#so much goes into the planning for this including the layout of who has connections to who and what interactions i can draw

[i-pogchamp]

A day late bc i was so busy yesterday, but it's that time of year again when i update my banner to this year's beloveds... and there were so many to choose from :( i wish i could fit everyone!

[the-travelling-witch]

1, 11, AND 12 I would love to know!

I’m a huge daydreamer but I would love to know if you daydream your ideas or write a bunch of random parts down before connecting it all

What’s Hollys fanfic writing layout look like

hi hi, thank you so much for playing; my process is so far from ideal, it’s probably better not to look at it too closely ^^;

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

oh for sure, it’s like 99% daydreaming and 1% writing (explains a lot doesn’t it); i’m not even sure how people would write without daydreaming

a lot of times i get ideas or the motivation to write while i physically can’t, so going straight for it is often not even an option; but even when it is, i have to jump over at least 10 mental blocks before i get one sentence out

also as someone who has trouble falling asleep, daydreaming is what mostly keeps my thoughts from spiralling out of control, so there’s that

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

yeah i always write my scenes in order and have never done otherwise; most of the time my content isn’t long enough to where i could start with a different scene but it also feels the most natural to me

i do sometimes squish scenes in between existing ones if i thought of sth new like -my own example off the top of my head- the proposal scene in what could’ve been, i’m pretty sure i added that at a later point bc i didn’t plan for it in the beginning

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

it really depends on what i’m writing; for a lot of things i might only write down the premise/prompt and go from there or note down my first ideas for scenes and dialogue and whatever else I can think of (these are at the top of the same document)

for longer stuff like what could’ve been or the isekai au, i outline more throughly; i outline the basic structure of the plot and where i want which scene to go, what details i want to include, what characters will appear and be important etc (this goes into a separate document)

the childe angst has been a while ago, so i can’t 100% recall on the fly what exactly i wrote down but for the isekai au, i have a 5 act structure, one that’s more basic and more about the function of each act and one that details what scenes/ plot points actually happen when; there’s also a character section where everything about the main characters is taken down and one for scenes i deleted but might be useful later on

for longer pieces, it really helps having this kind of outline bc i can organise random ideas and without it i wouldn’t even want to get back into working on it, it definitely does a lot of heavy lifting

fanfic writing ask game

[jpbuildersus]

Home Renovation Contractor – Top Tips You Ought to Know

There are a lot of reasons why people decide to renovate their homes. Some do it because they want to upgrade the look of their homes, while others do it because they wish to change the layout or add more rooms. Whatever the case, you should know that a home renovation contractor can play a huge role in the whole process, and more so if you’re a novice in home improvement. As you embark on your home renovation journey, here are some tips to help you find the right contractor for the job: Check the License and Certification of Your Contractor There is a lot at risk when you engage House renovation contractors to work in your home. You want to ensure your home’s structure is safeguarded while receiving the highest quality repair possible. Having shown their familiarity with applicable regulations, licensed contractors have also proven their reliability by passing a thorough background check. Suppose you discover a contractor who is both insured and with the necessary licenses to do business in your state. In that case, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t be held responsible for any accidents that may occur on the job. If anything unexpected happens during the remodeling, you may use the insurance money to pay the additional expenditures. And if anything goes wrong, you can be sure that your contractor will do all it takes to make things right since they want to keep their good name. It’s worth noting that licensing is often only required of contractors doing extensive renovations on houses like yours; if you need someone to conduct modest carpentry work around the house (like replacing loose trim boards), you generally won’t need a license. Ask For References Before Hiring a Home Renovation Contractor You should always check references before hiring a house renovation contractor for any work on your property. This is also a brilliant idea if you plan on having them do more extensive home repairs, such as repairing your roof or fixing a broken faucet. There are hundreds upon thousands of home improvement contractors, and some may be a better match for you than others. If you want to avoid hiring someone who will take advantage of you, performing your research is essential rather than relying on a friend’s or neighbour’s recommendation. Reference checks are vital to the hiring process, so it’s crucial to seek guidance from individuals who have utilized the company’s services before making a final selection. Reading customer reviews on a company’s website is an excellent first step. Even if you don’t have a personal connection to anybody who has utilized the services of any contractors in your area, you can still uncover a wealth of information (both good and bad) to help you choose by reading reviews and testimonials online. If there are many complaints, it’s best to go elsewhere; it’s only worth the time and effort if they perform well. Only Hire Someone Who Can Show Proof of Insurance Coverage. A home renovation contractor may make repairs and improvements to your property, but they likely need more licensing to do any significant structural alterations. This category of contractors often subcontracts the bulk of their work to other businesses specializing in a particular field, such as tiling or flooring. You must realize early on whether you’ll require a general contractor to manage the project. If a potential employee cannot provide evidence of insurance, you should not hire them. If something occurs on your property while your contractor works there, such as damage from a subcontractor, the contractor and any subcontractors should be covered by liability insurance. Also, it may help pay for any medical expenses incurred from injuries sustained. The cost of such protection is determined by factors including where you reside and how much coverage you need. Before beginning work, a reputable contractor should be OK with giving you this information and ensuring your familiarity with it. A contract with a home renovation firm with a cancellation policy is also recommended. If you change your mind about working with them after they’ve begun working on your property, you should have enough time to terminate the contract under this clause. Always Get Everything in Writing Having everything put in writing is one of the finest things you can do when choosing a home renovation contractor. This will save you time and energy in the long run and give you confidence that the contractor will follow through on your discussion. Ensure your contractor does what they claim they will do before hiring them. Even if a contractor is nearby, comes highly recommended, or runs a well-established business, they will still need to find a way to deliver. It would help if you got everything you want the contractor to include in their bid down on paper. Don’t just guess how much money you’ll need for a project; document every penny. Additionally, ensure all parties agree on any specifics about your requests that might increase or decrease expenses (such as the material you want for wall coverings or flooring). As a result, you may be sure that the final product of your collaboration with the contractor will be precisely what you envisioned rather than a “good enough” compromise reached in the absence of discussion. When errors are made, or tasks are not completed as promised, it is much simpler to hold contractors liable. We are happy with the quality of our work, the care we take with every detail, and the open lines of communication we maintain with every one of our customers. Rough framing, plumbing, foundation, and the final work are all equally vital in our eyes. For us, there is a task that is manageable to manage. Please get in touch with us at (818) 699-0449 since our work entails more than just erecting structures but ensuring that the client’s vision is prioritized throughout the whole building process.

[harryhandstan]

where we belong

Yeah so..it’s been a year. A long and very frustrating year since one of the worst days of my life. This is just a continuation of You Bring Me Home and Harry helping me through the grief process of my aunt’s death. That was one of the first pieces of writing I ever shared and it was so incredibly personal to me. Thankful again to @bfharry​ for letting me include that in her fic event happening at the time. It was so good for me just to release that grief both then and now!

I also just owe a huge thank you to anyone else who has listened when I’ve talked about this or offered any sort of comfort. Your kindness in such a dark phase of my life means the world to me!!

This idea was born of the very strange urge I had to watch the movie I was watching with my sister that night we found out. I still haven’t been brave enough to watch it, but maybe someday.

Thank you to Miss Jill and Oliva (@havethetimeofyourstyles​, @bfharry​) for reading over this for me :) I appreciate you so much you’re the best!

//

“Linds? You home?”

He knows he’s later getting home than he said he’d be. But things on set don’t always go as planned so it had taken him longer than he imagined. He had tried to call to let you know, but when you didn’t answer his texts and your phone went through to voicemail for the third time, he assumed you were either out or gone to bed.

He drops his keys into the small bowl on the wooden table in the entryway, hears the clink of your set of keys against his and breathes a sigh of relief; you were here, safe. Not that you couldn’t venture out without him when he was busy, but he always feared the worst until you were back under the roof of your shared space.

He makes his way down the hallway into the kitchen, depositing the few grocery bags on the counter. When there’s still no sign of you, he works quickly to put away the few things you’d asked him to pick up on his way home, eager to be near you again. He notices a small round cake when he opens the refrigerator, and suddenly runs through the list of significant dates the two of you had accumulated over the past couple of years you’d spent together. Had he forgotten one? An anniversary of something that was important to you? Were you upset with him for forgetting, waiting somewhere for him to remember and apologize?

His hands work faster now, and when he goes to put away the grocery bags, he takes time to observe the casserole dish on the stove. He lifts the foil, sees the food untouched, and recovers it before moving through the rest of the house to find you. The open layout of the kitchen and living room allows him to quickly eliminate the couch as your hiding spot. He peeks down to see the door to the bedroom ajar, the light off but a slight flicker from the TV flashes across the walls and the tension in his chest continues to unravel the closer he gets. The box fan you insisted you couldn’t sleep without was silent, so either you hadn’t heard him call earlier, or again, you’d fallen asleep while waiting for him.

He pushes aside the guilt for being late, tries to rid himself of the thought the second it appears. He doesn’t know how many times you’d reminded him of your love and pride for him and his work. It was a mantra he repeated in his head when he was away and missing you. Your voice repeating I love you, I’m proud of you, come home to me soon no matter the length of time or distance you would be apart.

He stops before entering the bedroom, removing his shoes and making his movements as quiet as possible so he doesn’t disturb you. He glances quickly into the room, hears the faint murmurs of voices from the TV. It wasn’t an unusual sight, you hated falling asleep without him and so you often found a movie or show to try to lull yourself to sleep when the fan and other things just wouldn’t do the trick. Though the noise of a movie could never be a replacement for him, it was often enough for you to rest until he returned.

What comes next absolutely terrifies him, chills him to the bone worse than the bitter cold of the December air outside. A sob, echoing through the silence he had already adjusted to. He’s by your side in a second, almost leaping to meet you. He throws the blanket back that’s covering you, no real logic behind the action other than you must be physically hurt somehow. From the cry, he expects to see blood, an open wound, some clear injury. When all he finds is you, in his faded t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, he questions again if you were sleeping, if it’s a bad dream that caused what he had heard.

But your eyes are too wide to have been resting, your face wet with fresh tears, new ones still streaming rapidly out of the corners of your eyes and down your cheeks. His heart is racing, fear laced in his voice when he kneels next to you, “S’a matter? Are you hurt?”

All you can do is wrap yourself around him, arms clinging to his neck. He tries to loosen your grip, pull you back so he can study your face, but you only clutch tighter. The panic is evident when he speaks again, “Lovie, you’re scaring me. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

You do your best to calm yourself, finally able to form words through shaky breaths, “It’s been a year, Harry.”

He frantically searches his thoughts again. A year? He tries to remember what tragic anniversary would have you this upset. That’s when he tunes in to the movie behind him, strains his ears to hear and tries to determine when he heard it last and how it could relate. It’s faintly familiar, but the tone is too light to be the only reason you’re this unsettled. 

Suddenly it hits him. How could he have abandoned a date from his head this important to you? He silently curses himself for even thinking of leaving you alone for a second today. Hates himself for ignoring the signs of your grief from the past week; the restless nights, your unusually quiet moods around him, the way you had melted into any sort of touch he offered. It was your way of seeking comfort without verbally requesting it. 

You’ve relaxed your arms enough now that he can create some space between you, just enough that he can visualize the sorrow set upon your normally joyful spirit. His voice is mixed with his own agony when he tells you, “I’m sorry. Love you so much, baby. Should’ve never left you today.”

You shush him, a gentle sign you’re not upset with him for overlooking the importance of this day. He can’t help but embrace you firmer, wishing he could absorb even a fraction of your painful heartache. He would take it all from you in an instant if he could.

The cake (which he now recalls was her favorite), the movie (he now realizes the two of you were watching the very same night a year before), this date. All reminders of what would always be one of the darkest days of your existence. 

The day your aunt had left the world too soon. The day you found out you would never see her beaming smile or hear her laugh or share a meal or create another cherished memory with her.

//

“Did you talk to your family today?”

“Yeah, FaceTimed my sister for a bit. Called my mom too, and my Nanna and Aunt Donna. It was nice to talk to them about her, share some stories.” He’s laying with you now, you curled against his side. The movie is still playing, set on a low volume, neither one of you paying much attention to it.

His eyes are closed but you know he’s still awake and listening by the way his hand rests on your back, occasionally working over that spot to soothe you as you talk, “But then I was alone and started thinking about that cake that she always loved. You were gone so I just walked to the bakery on the corner, not really expecting them to have it, but they did. Only one left and I started crying when I saw it in the case. Scared the poor cashier, but she was so sweet to me when I told her it reminded me of my aunt.”

“Then I came home and started thinking about that night I found out, how I was here with you and the movie we were watching. I don’t know if she had ever even seen it but..I wanted to connect with her somehow. It just made me more sad though, pulled me right back to that moment a year ago when I found out.”

“You could’ve waited for me. I would’ve watched it with you so you didn’t have to do it alone. Would’ve sent someone to pick up the cake too so you didn’t have to. Or sent a car to pick you up and bring you to set with me, s’always nice to have you there.” 

“I know. I just didn’t want to be a downer on your day. I wanted to be strong enough to get through by myself until you came home.” Tears are falling again, but you’re more in control of them now, they pool underneath where your cheek is smushed against his chest, “I miss her so much, Harry. It’s too much some days and I don’t know if it’ll ever get easier.”

“You could never be a downer to me, angel. Just because today was a little harder doesn’t mean you aren’t strong. It will get easier. You’ll always miss her, but it won’t always hurt so bad. It’ll take time to heal enough to find that balance between grief and happiness for the things that remind you of her. You’ll get to a point where you smile when you see her favorite things,” You press your face into his side, the fabric of his shirt is soft and comforting on your face, which you’re sure is red by now from crying so much throughout the day, “Will you look at me, please, love?”

When you do, he reaches to pull your hair back away from your face so that he can see it more clearly. He swipes a thumb along the top of your cheek, doing what he can to smooth away tears that have collected there, “I know how hard this year has been for you, but I also know without a doubt that she would be so proud of you, just like I am.”

“I wouldn’t have made it through a second of it without you, H. I’m only so strong because I had you to help me.”

“Maybe, but I won’t take credit for all of it, I can’t.” Your lips are dry and rough against his soft ones, but he doesn’t care, traps them gently to his once before gracing your cheek with another one.

“Saw you made dinner earlier. You weren’t hungry?”

“Not really, just needed something to keep me busy for the evening. I got too upset once I got it all done though.” You’re tracing patterns on the inside of the hand he’s offered you, knowing it’s one of your comforts, “Made that pasta you like, with garlic bread from the bakery.”

“Mhm, sounds good. With that homemade sauce you make?”

You snort, followed by a laugh at his adorably confused expression, “I’m flattered you like it so much, but it’s clearly not homemade, babe.”

“Really? This whole time you let me believe it was your own recipe?” 

“I thought you knew! You’ve literally been at the store with me when I’ve bought it. Several times, in fact. Probably even paid for it a few of those times too.”

“I feel so betrayed.” His bottom lip pokes out, a charmingly cute expression of disappointment. 

“I’m sorry. Think you can forgive me?” You're sitting up now, looking down at him. His hand is still settled in yours, and you squeeze his fingers, prompting him to look at you.

“Maybe. Definitely helps you got my favorite bread t’go with it.”

All the talk of food has your appetite returning quickly, and by the low grumble your stomach makes, it’s back in full force. If it were anyone else but Harry you were with, your cheeks would have flushed pink, but instead you just giggle.

“S’nice to hear that again, love. The laugh. Missed it, and the smile too. S’one of my favorite sights, seeing you so happy.”

“I’d be happier if we were eating pasta and garlic bread.”

“Me too.” 

The food is long cold by now, but the two of you work together to reheat everything. The smell envelops you both, chasing away the frosty chill December seemed to always bring. Harry’s already seated as you make your way to the table with your plate, and he shakes his head when you reach to pull the chair out to sit next to him. He takes your plate and sits it beside his own, tugging your wrist to guide you into his lap.

It’s the most normal, natural thing to him, to have you so close. He loops an arm behind your back to hold you securely there, “Saved you a seat with me instead, baby.”

You don’t suppress the blush now, can’t stop it from blooming scarlet across your face. He lifts his fork, gathering a bite you expect him to fill his own mouth with. Instead he brings it to yours, a beaming grin when you bend to accept it.

“What are you doing? Harry, I can feed myself. I’m not a child.” You drape one arm around his shoulders to steady yourself.

“‘Course you can, just missed you today. Wanna make it up to you that we spent the day apart,” He stuffs the second bite into his mouth before pointing his fork at you, “And y’coming with me tomorrow, won’t have m’girl sitting here bored and alone in this cold house. I’ll treat ya to dinner at that little Mexican place you love. Or if you’d rather have somethin’ else..”

You wrap your arms around him for the second time that evening, surprising him, making his fork clatter to his plate when he drops it to wrap his other arm around you, temporarily forgetting the meal to hug you back. You’re content to just let him hold you for a minute, relaxing your body to conform to his. Your chin rests on his shoulder and you finally turn your head to kiss his neck before letting go to cup his face with both of your hands. 

You kiss him..once, twice, and on the third one he’s smiling, an amused smirk crossing his face before he asks, “What s’all this for, lovie?”

“I love you, Harry, more than you’ll ever know.”

“I love you too, peach.”

Maybe there was a wound, not visible, that may never fully heal, but made significantly smaller by this man who you’re certain loved you more than anyone ever had. The man who kissed you a fourth time before feeding you a bite of garlic bread and reluctantly letting you transfer yourself from his lap to the chair next to him. He doesn’t even flinch when you prop your feet in his lap, just grins down at the mismatched socks covering your feet. 

The grin widens when he realizes they’re his socks keeping your toes warm. Loves that after a year of grief and distress, you remember exactly where you belong.

[neokad]

Phantasy Star II - The 1989 JRPG that could

(This post is dedicated to @kuukigajan, my best friend, whom motivated me to post here again, so... I hope you'll enjoy this!)

This game. This freaking game.

I'm gonna say it right now: this post will contain massive spoilers about pretty much everything in Phantasy Star 2's story, so if you do plan on experiencing this game fresh, I strongly advise you to not read this post at all beyond the first paragraph, but... here's the gist of it: Phantasy Star II is one of the most important and groundbreaking JRPGs of its time, and I just did not believe this game was from 1989, at ALL. For that and a few other reasons, it has become one of my new favourite games of all time <3 

In fact, I do want to start with the one big flaw of this adventure so that I can just gush about everything else that's brilliant about PSII. I have to be honest: the dungeon design in this game is horrible. Now to be fair, it does make the many places you visit more memorable, but well... there's a rumor floating around that an actual trainee made the layouts for the dungeons - and since this game was a bit rushed for the Genesis's launch, the devs just didn't have time to replace the... stuff he submitted. And let me tell you, this rumor makes sense: PSII's dungeons are too big, too maze-like, too confusing and also FILLED with strong enemies. And in a game where you don't get a way to save anywhere until the midway point, it can make your adventure very frustrating and potentially grindy because of that... Now I wouldn't say that PSII's nearly as bad in this area as say, the original version of Dragon Warrior or ironically the first Phantasy Star, but the dungeons can totally make you feel like the game's harder than it actually is, at least without a map.

Thankfully, you should never feel bad for using any maps or guides with this game! The execs at SEGA at the time made the very smart decision to include a walkthrough with each copy of the game, including maps, tips, secrets and more! Said guide does encourage youto not look at it as much as possible but... it's totally fair to just use this, without any shame!

And that is a great thing, because... with you armed with this piece of paper, Phantasy Star II can finally show you its actual brilliance.

The game's plot starts off a thousand years after the events of the first Phantasy Star game. Since Alis and her party defeated Dark Force, the inhabitants of the Algol solar system - and its three planets of Palma, Motavia and Dezolis - have enjoyed relative peace. However, at a (to my knowledge) unknown point in time, a computer entity known as Mother Brain has started imposing itself onto mostly Motavia. This, over time, has actually given many benefits to the region: the once deserted wasteland was given rain, water and crops, so that it could finally host viable, comfortable civilizations. The citizens that lived here could finally ditch their (arguably) nomadic, harsh lives in favor of comfort, pleasant weather and more. And most importantly, Mother Brain allowed its citizens, save for a few, to ditch their current jobs and live a life of laziness, without any obligations or pressure to do anything other than well, existence. This is reflected many times during the game through NPC dialogue, too!

It is on such a setting that our protagonist, Rolf, wakes up from a strange nightmare. In it, we see Alis batting Dark Force and struggling in doing so, but as soon as he realizes this, Rolf wakes up in cold sweat. He then proceeds to calm his nerves, realizing that no such dramatic events could possible happen to him - after all, he and many others have been under the universal protection and care of Mother Brain, whom at this point, has provided all of their needs for centuries. He then gets out of bed and goes to the central tower, where we works as an agent in case some things do go wrong.

And gone wrong things have! His superior informs him that biological monsters, which had been created and bred in the Mota biosystems laboratory, have gone rogue and infected the regions of Motavia at a rapid rate. Because of this, Rolf is asked to investigate the cause of this phenomenon. Once he gets home to prepare for his journey, he is ambushed by best girl Nei, who has been rescued by him many months ago from the clutches of a serial killer. She does not want to be left alone anymore, and since she is also worried for Rolf's sefety, asks him to accompany him on the mission. Naturally, Rolf accepts.

Here, I do want to bring up Nei in more detail! She's in fact, the first of PSII's brilliant story-gameplay interactions, and here's why! Nei is in fact, a crossbreed experiment between a human and an unknown animal with cat-like features, but here's the thing: this said experiment was a failure. Because of this, Nei is only one years old, and yet her physical and mental age are progressing way more rapidly than they should. And you can feel this effect on the game itself: she needs way less EXP than any other party member in the game to level up, and because of this she will skyrocket in levels way beyond the rest of your crew... with a catch. Because of the nature of the experiment, the genetic code inside of her is slowly being messed up and corrupted, which not only causes her level ups to be less valuable than anyone else's, but it also becomes an important plot point later...  Unfortunately, despite her absolute cuteness, her status as a half-half made her a victim of bullying, racism and so much more, which is... pretty messed up to bring up at the time not gonna lie o_o

Starting up the journey, the party discovers that rogues have destroyed a neighboring city, and it just so happens that their base is situed at Shure, the first dungeon of the game . One assumption I like to make from this scene is that life has become so easy and careless on Motavia that people just went and did crime out of pure boredom, because life just wasn't thrilling enough anymore with Mother Brain doing everything it could for its inhabitants...

However, upon climbing said tower, Rolf and Nei find out multiple dead rogue bodies, whom have been presumably murdered by the many biomonsters roaming the place. They do, however, manage to find some dynamite and most importantly, a letter. This piece of paper informs our heroes that the daughter of a Darum, the very same person that tried to murder Nei months ago, is held captive in another tower, which explains why he turned to crime in the first place. They then decide to do the obvious, which is to rescue daughter Teim in her captivity location. Once they meet up with her, she explains her desire to talk to her father to set things straight and sway him from the life he's been getting into, as well as hide her from the surviving rogue members with the help of a veil. Our group manages to meet up with Darum, but... her daughter asks the party to stay put, as she does not want them to interfere with her as she explains things to her father. However, in the heat of the moment, she forgets to remove her veil, which causes Darum to not recognize her. In his confusion, he murders her own flesh and blood and sits there, stunned, as he watches the reason he caused many untold atrocities... wither away below him. Shocked and going insane by this situation, he sees no other way out... but to commit suicide with the help of a bomb.

It gets worse.

While this scene was tragic and brutal to say the least, it does allow Rolf to cross the previously guarded bridge where Darum was always located, which allows him to investigate his mission further.

I do want to make a sidenote here actually! Phantasy Star II does include eight playable characters, but unlike Rolf and Nei they do not join you at fixed intervals - instead, they will become available in your home town of Paseo once conditions are met. Sadly while they do have a recruitment quote, a few lines and a backstory, they do not have an impact on the main story in any way. This does blow as this means PSII does not have much in character development and interaction, but I did want to mention that there’s more to this game than just Rolf and Nei :P 

Upon exploring the regions of Motavia, the party manages to make its way to the Biosystems lab, and what they find here is horrifying to say the least. The lab is in horrible shape, with cracked floors everywhere. On top of that, there is no one inside the lab anymore, it being completely deserted, save for some horrible-looking creatures being kept insides tubes, decorating the now sinister looking building... Because of this, Rolf deems it safe to pick up the recorder inside the lab, to analyze it and try to find out just what exactly went wrong - if anything at all - to hopefully figure out why the world has been sacked by biomonsters. And sure enough, the gang make its way back to Paseo.  After handing over the recorder to the library located in Paseo’s Central Tower, it is now made clear: the biomonsters were caused by a large amount of energy used in a very short amount of time in those labs, causing them to mutate extremely rapidly. This had the predictable but unfortunate effect of ruining the natural order of the ecosystem, which is why these species are wrecking havoc without control. The librarian giving this information also makes the following connection: this outpour of energy must have come from Climatrol - another lab which regulates the weather of the terraformed planet so that it can sustain its new shape. Following this, Rolf and co. take a few steps to reach Climatrol - and I want to highlight a specific one!

The story somewhat pauses until then, but one of the dungeons you’ll go through is a garbage dump... and one of the treasures is a jet scooter you can use! Sounds cool, right? Well it is, but even such a cool object has been abandoned by the lazy society, since teleportation is much more convenient to them. I just thought it was a really neat detail, that’s all ^_^

Once making their way through the relatively normal Climatrol, something does wait for them at the top of the building... something... unsettling...

This is Neifirst. She was another failed experiment just like Nei, sharing the same biological data as her. However, unlike her sister, her creators tried to kill her on the spot due to her status. This made her enraged against the species that gave her life, and as an act of revenge, decided to unleash this bio catastrophy to slowly wipe us out. This is where another truth is revealed: Nei did not come with Rolf just to protect him, she actually wanted to put a stop to her sister, because while she did dislike being treated like a freak or a monster, she never wanted to hate her species as a whole... It remains that she still wants to stop her sister’s plans, and despite Rolf’s protests, the two engages in a fight. However, due to Neifirst being much stronger, Nei sustains heavy damage and is incapacitated. But, this is where the rest of the party comes in, and thus they finish the job and kill off Neifirst dead in her tracks, Rolf then quickly rushes in to his dear friend’s side, but as he does... it’s too late... Nei is dead.

This is yet another reason why Phantasy Star II is such an important game: it is, to my knowledge, the very first JRPG in which a major playable character dies permanently. Heck, Rolf even tries to bring her back through the local Clone Lab - because yes, citizens have access to eternal life by cloning their bodies until the end of time - but... since Nei’s genetic code was degenerating rapidly, they could not clone her body anymore. And, since Neifirst was also defeated, it is also impossible to get a fresh code back from anywhere in the world. Nei is dead. And you cannot do anything about it.

But don’t worry! It still gets worse!

But just as you’re about to find a way to fix this, it turns out that Climatrol has collapsed, which caused an immense flood all over the world. Since the government - and by extension, Mother Brain - isn’t happy about this, you are now considered a fugitive, a criminal. You are now the bad guy, and you are wanted for treason. 1989, anyone??

This is where the second brilliant story-gameplay integration of Phantasy Star II happens. Where until now you’ve only fought mutated monsters due to the outbreak, the government has now sent thousands of carious cyborgs and robots against you - and lo and behold, this is now the only thing you are fighting in both the overworld and dungeons, and the previous creatures are now nowhere to be seen. THAT’S REALLY SMART. Now sure, even if you are considered evil to many, you still task yourself with the task of unflooding the planet, and to do so you simply reactivate all four colored dams in the continent. However, upon reactivating the fourth one, your party is suddenly ambushed by a trio of robots sent by the cops, and this time? They succeed in capturing you. Your party is now sent in chains on a hovering satellite, as you are sentenced to slowly wither away and die in there without any trial of any sort, simply because you went against Mother Brain’s dear wishes...

But, something goes amiss. The sattelite starts to malfunction, and is now set to crash on one of the three planets of the Algol system. And despite you all trying to alter its course, it is too late. The satellite crashes onto Palma - the planet of the first Phantasy Star game - and it is gone.

That’s right! The planet in which many players took the time to save with Alis’s gang, to have a huge dungeon crawling adventure, the planet where you defeated Lassic in a glorious fashion. GONE. In only a few seconds. But... what about yourself? Well, you actually died! But a space pirate wandering close to the crash site pulled out your remains and cloned everyone’s body back to life... which makes you technically not yourself, and also dead, for the remainder of the game! ...May I remind you this game was developed in 1989?

Tyler the space pirate then escorts the zombie party back to Paseo, but not for long - you see, your commander, who hasn’t truly approved of Mother Brain’s actions against your group, allows you access to a spaceship. This is a big deal, because space travel as a whole has been banned ten years ago due to a major accident in which Rolf had lost his parents, and thus, the one stationed in Paseo is the last one remaining on the planet. But sure enough, Rolf takes the opportunity and travels to the ice planet of Dezolis, or Dezo.

And honestly? Even though this next part has nothing to do with the main story, it’s probably one of my favourites in the entire game. In this section, you simply must make your way through an abandoned space station, which has not seen use in years. At first, you’d think it was somewhat related to the spaceship incident, but as you explore this space station, you find a bunch of animals and newspapers lying around. You not only find some irrelevant ads about various products, but also news flash about a horrible gas spreading throughout the station, begging every inhabitant to evacuate immediately, which... definitively implies a very bleak fate to the place and its inhabitants o_o 

And on top of this unsettling setting, this is the first time you get to hear “Silent Zone”, my favourite track in the game. While the rest of the soundtrack is very upbeat, catchy and all around excellent, this track in particular is very... sad, desolate, lonely, in spite of it being just as catchy! It all combines for a brilliant example of “show, don’t tell” that really sets the mood perfectly to me <3

Either way, upon exploring more of Dezo - a frigid wasteland with few inhabitants - the party gets to meet up with Noah, a party member from Phantasy Star I! After reawakening from a cryogenic sleep, he then reveals that unlike Paseo and Motavia, Dezo basically never submitted with Mother Brain’s control and benefits simply because they did not want to live a life without any struggles. Unfortunately, this is also where you learn that Paseo came to terms with this *after* being to MB’s whims and as such, you can connect the dots and realize that the satellite crash was no accident after all... it was all planned.

Noah, however, knows about how deeply MB has ruined everything for the inhabitants of Motavia and thus tasks Rolf with collecting eight legendary ancient weapons all throughout Dezo, located within some ruinous, empty, cold dungeons which make for stunning atmosphere and presence, believe me!

Once that’s done, he then entrusts Rolf with the ultimate Sword and, thanks to kinetic abilities, sends him and his troupe to the space station housing Mother Brain. And once there, for the first time in centuries, a human being has met with Mother Brain.

And of course, the computer scoffs at those rebelling against her. She laughs at how they think they’d want a life with struggles, wtihout comfort, without anyone providing their needs, when work and hardship seems so uninviting on a desert wasteland like Motavia, or a frigid hell like Dezo. And yet, after a (pretty difficult!) battle, you emerge victorious! Or do you?

After the victorious outcome, Noah senses some additional presences beyond Mother Brain’s spot, and urges the party to investigate. And then... I don’t think I’ll even explain it in words. Please watch what happens. It is disturbing.

Yeah. We, the humans, were destroying our planet, Earth. Thus, we escaped through this spaceship to avoid extinction, and found the Algo system. It then, to our species, only seemed logical with so few numbers, to instead slowly weaken the population of all three planets with Mother Brain, making it then easy (although a very long process) to get rid of the population and start anew, even if it meant genocide. What I love about this twist ending is not only how it’s presented: the creepy music, the way you did *not* expect it at all, the number of humans on the screen at once, and so on... but also, how you don’t even know for sure how it ends. You don’t know if Rolf, Rudo, Amy, Kain, Hugh, Shir, Anna... if any of them survived. But it looks grim. It looks like we lost. And it looks like everyone we fought and tried to save... will rot until the final days anyway... Phantasy Star II... is important. Sure, I could talk about how the game is challenging due to how both your party members AND the enemies are very capable in battle or the stellar, catchy, memorable soundtrack...   but its story... is stunning. In 1989, we were still used to princesses being saved by armored heroes from dark dragons. We were used to things going all well in the end. But in 1989, Phantasy Star II taught us many things that would become staples in the future of JRPGs:  Yes, your cherished ones may die with you not being able to do anything about it No, you may not be able to save everyone you’d like to. Yes, your actions might make things worse for yourself and everyone else. No, things aren’t quite as black or white as they seem. And no, you might not always win. Phantasy Star II is a masterpiece. It’s a bit hard to approach this game today, but with a guide, this game is a must play. It’s unique. It’s ambitious. It’s chilling. And I adore this game to pieces. Thank you for reading, somehow <3

[nofive]

Five’s Bedroom

I have done a headcanon about brief observations I have made on Five’s bedroom before. I have also talked about things in his bedroom in a few other headcanons. But this will be delving into the canon state of Five’s childhood room, and his area in the Apocalypse to get a sense for how Five is as a person and a bit more of what he was like as a child.

Also fair warning, this post is long, and their are lots of big images. If you want, I am tagging this post with a special tag “Five’s Bedroom Meta” so that you can block it if you do not wish to scroll through it on your dash. All images that have adjusted brightness was purely to enhance the background of the image.

Like with everything I may add on to this as time goes by.

The bare bones, no deep diving yet ( Five’s Childhood Room )

Based off multiple images from the Making of TUA book, the show itself, and Aidan’s behind the scenes pictures I’ve put together a very basic floor plan of Five’s room ( please don’t make fun of my handwriting ). I don’t know about y’all but I feel like Five’s door needs to be at a til like Allison and Luther’s. But its not. So this floor plan basically gives a layout of his room in general. Its not to scale obviously, but it gives us a good starting off point. One thing I would like to note, that I think is only applicable to Five’s room as that there are two doors much like Reginald’s office, which I will touch on a bit later. Not drawn are the at least four lamps, one on his desk, one on the small bookshelf by his bed, and one on his nightstand, he has at least two sconces one on the wall near the closet, and one on the wall near the blue chair, he also has a main light fixture with at least three bulbs. But it is simply his closet, a very small closet at that.

Five’s bedroom has two windows, one that leads to a fire escape, which is next to his bed on the wall with the slanted roof. Both windows have radiators beneath them that Five utilizes as shelving. On the slanted wall side of his room Five’s bed is pushed not quite into the corner as he has a small bookshelf there that has more toys on it than books, and has a chest at the foot of his bed, and then he has his bookshelf which due to the slanted wall has the appearance of a built in.

Five’s desk and desk chair are on the same wall as his closet, though his desk chair being on wheels can move about. Above the desk are a set of shelves, Luther’s room has something very similar, with a set of towels and his toiletries. Five’s towels are blue, Luther’s appear to be tan or brown. If I had to guess all the siblings have different colors of towels. Next to his desk in between it and the bookshelf is a basket that appears to have a white board, and a fireman’s hat. There is also a possible laundry basket on the other side of his desk closer to the closet.

On the wall that has the main door to his room you have his wardrobe or armoire. we know thanks to Klaus that this houses jackets, possibly that snazzy coat and scarf from the bank as well as various toys namely baseballs. I know there is a baseball bat in his room but I cannot find a picture of it. Also I should note, I have no idea what is rapped in that white sheet looking thing.

On the other side of the door we have his dresser. The door funnily enough has a window up top sort of akin to an office door implying that Five’s room did in fact used to be an office. In fact the way it’s styled makes it seem like it could be a 1920s styled Private Investigator office. The dresser has a dart board above it that he takes down to write his equations and then puts it back up despite not putting anything else back on the walls. In front of the dress and the second window is a blue chair that we see Delores occupy while Grace patches up his Shrapnel wound she is sitting on his blue desk chair. Next to the radiator under the window we have Five’s nightstand.

The walls of Five’s bedroom are all painted a minty green color. So is all the triming including the the window seal ledges. The only non-painted areas are the bricks under the slanted roof/wall of his room and the boarder wallpaper.

The Deep Dive

So that takes us around his room, now lets actually delve into those pictures and what we see in them. So lets start at the beginning with the closet. To my knowledge Five is the only one with a closet in his room, and a second door. I only bring this up because the parallels and similarities between Five and Reginald is very obvious. And we know Reginald’s office has two doors. I just think that is interesting, not to mention Five’s bedroom was very likely an old office based on how The Academy is multiple buildings together. I should also note that based on the scene when Five is escaping onto the fire escape the window that is not on the slanted wall portion of his room shouldn’t have light coming into it because another building butts up to it.

Five’s bedroom is actually quite large accented with blue of varying shades from the carpet to his main comforter, to his desk chair, pillows, curtains, and his secondary chair. All the wood in his room is a light walnut color. And his doors are painted this minty green color. His second comforter looks to be navy, white, and red plaid. The fact that he has a second comforter that is used means not only has Grace changed his sheets, but he likely has slept in them, which means he likely did sleep. I only say its second comforter and not a blanket because we know Five has a chest at the foot of his bed with a blanket on it that could have been used. The chest likely has his extra bedding in it though. On Five’s bedside table he has a stack of what appears to be text books, but they seem more like workbooks of some sort. So think like SAT prep books. He also has a set of what appears to be five novels on his nightstand, and some sort of CD player or maybe a dehumidifier. 

The blanket as you can see has planets, a moon, and a spaceship on it, which is pretty on par for things that Five likes. All over his room, and in these images you can see images of robots on his walls. Particularly you can see comic drawings of robots. He has a rock-em sock-em robot poster on his wall. He even has a robot on his bookshelf by his desk. Five has a fascination with robots. Which could foreshadow his relationship with Delores, and perhaps something of his relationship with Grace, liking wanting to know how she works. Also foreshadowing of Five and Delores is quite literally in the wallpaper boarder above the chair rail which has a kid pulling a red wagon with a mannequin in them.

Additionally we see lots of building blocks particularly on the bookshelf next to Five’s bed. Five is very hands on when it comes to his hobbies. He has means of transportation all over his room which could make sense given his power, but it could also give him a connection to Luther seeing as Luther also has airplanes and cars in his room. Five has boats, and cars all over his room. Further he also has lots of construction toys including an excavator and a cement truck. On top of his wardrobe he has a sail boat and a covered wagon. He also has a poster of a motorcyle or moped on his wall. If Five had stayed behind he would have been the first to learn how to drive for sure.

From first glance Five’s room seems super organized. But when you actually look at it, its not. Books in particular are stacked where he can stack them. The binders on his desk are initially upside down, and someone put them right side up, I would guess Luther as he is messing around Five’s desk to look for things. Five works in an organized chaos we see this from his equations as he writes over the boarder and such We later see this echoed in his Apocalypse home.

When it comes to other things Five has a few knick knacks all of them are travel based, saved for one. I’ve mentioned the toys. The one I’m referring to can be seen on his desk and I believe it is a nautical instrument used to help measure distance and time or speed. I could be wrong. But it is on Five’s desk along with what appears to be homework of some sort in the trays. He’s also got a stapler on his desk which I simply find ironic.

The one knick knack he has that isn’t related specifically to travel is a wooden basket that has busted up watches. Pocket watches, wrist watches, etc. They are old, and are not digital. My theory on this is that at one point he attempted to use the watch to magnify his power, particularly that of Time Travel. But they kept breaking, but it only fueled his theory that he could do it. This is also a call back to the comic where Five as a kid is always shown to have a pocket watch.

Briefly on his closet, which is best pictured above. It is small. Also it appears to only hold his uniforms, which by the way he is going through them makes him seem like he should have more clothes and he can’t find them. This implies Five does have civvies or street clothes but they have been lost over time which would make Five’s “Shit” make much more sense. Its not that he only has uniforms as his option, its that he can’t find his civilian clothes.

Last but not least the dart board. I do have a headcanon about it. But the fact that you can see the equations go behind the dart board on the wall means he put it back up. Five in the original pilot script had a love of knives quite like Diego. My guess is the dart board is a call to that. But we also know Five is super competitive and I think he tries to get accurate with throwing knives to beat Diego. Also we know that Five has Diego’s knife holster in the apocalypse so Five liking knives is not just a original pilot script thing. 

The Comparison ( his Apocalypse Home Base )

Five’s apocalypse home base ironically takes on many similar characteristics of Five’s bedroom. Meaning the core of who Five is has not changed. He has a love for learning, partially cause he is literally creating new math, but he has a desk still, and he still stacks books haphazardly. He also has his chalkboard which seems to be Five’s favorite way of doing math. I theorize its because he’s working on things that are so large he needs more room than paper can provide. Also paper is hard to come by in the apocalypse, at least blank paper is because he uses Vanya’s book. Five has a habit of placing important things on places he can easily see and find. Such as the probability map ending above his bed, and the equation on his chalk board likely ending up in his copy of Vanya’s book.

Final Thoughts

So what are my final thoughts? I think the making of TUA book has got Five pinned all wrong. Five’s room is sparse because he left early, but not because he didn’t have hobbies or time to decorate it. He clearly did. Five like athletics at least baseball, and he had an interest in robots, comics, and transportation. He also likes building as he has blocks and potentially even legos. The transportation could be an extension of him getting to know his power, maybe. But we know Luther is very similar with transportation just of the aerospace kind and we know that’s likely not related to his power ( unless you include my headcanon that his main power is actual gravity manipulation ). Five had interests and was even starting to personalize his room before he left, he also had an imagination seeing as the fireman’s helmet is still readily out and available to play which plays into Delores being part of his active imagination and becoming the imaginary friend he needs to stay somewhat sane in the apocalypse.

Five’s room tells us of a boy who was active, and had interests, and he still has a liking for those interests as we see him unable to help himself and play with one of the trucks during the show. It gives us a brief look into the boy that we truly know very little about. Because while we have so much of his story displayed for us, we have so little of what he was like before. He has toys and things all over his room with no real rhyme or reason as to why things are placed in certain areas. It makes sense to him obviously, but it is not the key organized thing you would expect. If it was all his trucks would be in one place for example.

We also can see Five is a bit more chaotic than his room implies on first glance. From both the Apocalypse and his kid bedroom Five has a habit of stacking books a bit haphazardly and storing things also a bit haphazardly as seen by the crate on top of his wardrobe, and the fact that he has stuff just piled into said wardrobe that comes tumbling out when Klaus does.

When it comes to his room location I believe it is on the third floor above Allison and Luther’s, on the second, and Klaus, Vanya, and Diego’s on the lower floor. Since we don’t know where Ben’s room is and the door across from Five’s is always shut, I do think that that is likely where Ben’s room was. But according to Five there are 42 Bedrooms in the place so it could be anywhere really.

Five’s room, like Five himself hides behind a layer of sparsity. You have to give him more than a cursory glance to know what is really going to get him deep down.

[mandadoration]

you’re a fine girl - i

summary: Agent Whiskey would really like you to say his real name for once, and you refuse, playing this little game of his until he finally makes you say it. The circumstances for it aren’t exactly ideal, though. 

word count: 3, 758

pairing: agent whiskey (Jack Daniels) x reader

warnings: canon-typical violence (and then some), swearing

a/n: Don’t ask me how the layout of Statesman HQ works. I really don’t know, and I’ve watched the movie to try and glean some more info, but I’ve decided, like many things, to bullshit it. This will have a predetermined length of three chapters!

chapters: i 

Read this on AO3

You think it’s hilarious just how stereotypically American the Statesman agency was. Besides the front of it, a Bourbon whiskey distillery that just happens to have racehorses (you never understood that part) on a large expanse of land and have a large influence on the liquor industry all over the US, the agents that were a part of it were just so in-your-face full-blooded American. Hell, even your equipment reflected that, with electric lassos and souped-up sawed-off double barrel shotguns, to cowboy boots with razor sharp spurs and Stetsons designed for stealth and espionage. Statesman was 100% committed to proudly showing off their roots. But you couldn’t really shit on them too much since you were one of their agents as well. That would be severely discrediting you and the work you do.

Even if some of the agents teasingly call you a city-slicker. 

Although you were a Statesman through and through like your mother before you, you had been raised on the less… southern half of the country because of where she was mainly stationed. Good ol’ New York was a whole different territory than Kentucky. She had still made sure you kept up with your training and be ready at a moment’s notice to take over for her. Statesman were proud of their line of agents, names often passed down from parent to child. Built in loyalty, you supposed, and a good way to keep an eye on those who knew secrets. As the world expanded and keeping the peace grew harder by the minute, they’ve strayed far from that tradition, and the organization grew to include people that had no prior connection to it. Your mom had been insistent she at least stay true to that part of Statesman, and often showed you how to watch over New York from the high rise building to groom you for the position in the future until you graduated from your unofficial codename of Ice Tea. But you had moved south to live on a small ranch a few miles from the distillery after she had died on a recon mission instead of staying up north in the concrete jungle. You inherited her position and her moniker as Agent Brandy, supervisor of the intelligence part of the agency and relocating to home base at the same time, but Agent Whiskey had taken up position up in New York in your stead. 

Speaking of Whiskey, there he was, sauntering up to you with a smile playing on his lips as you flicked through reports on your tablet. You spare him a quick glance and a polite smile before you turn your attention back to the reports and mission debriefs, hoping that was enough to leave you alone, but instead he leans against your desk and crosses his arms, and you try your damndest not to look at how his arms make the seams on his jacket strain.

There’s no animosity between you and Whiskey at all, and you’ve said as much when Champagne informed him he would be taking over the New York territory instead of you. You didn’t feel guilty or mad or anything really that you decided to move closer to Statesman because it was your choice, and Whiskey had taken it in stride. You two were just doing your jobs, and that was all. You would even go to say that you were close friends with him, giving him pointers about the secrets of New York while he told you all the gossip about the other agents. The work he did would make your mother proud. 

But why was he so insistent on hanging around at the Statesman headquarters in Kentucky so much?

“Your mission debrief isn’t scheduled until Tuesday, Agent Whiskey,” you say, eyes roving over your calendar before swiftly swiping it off your screen to pay closer attention to Tequila’s report. That man was awful with writing. Did he even have the spell check on? You click your tongue and run the editing software, intent on letting that run in the background while you browsed through various agent requests (there was Gin asking if you could fashion a 200 proof liquor), but Whiskey puts a hand on your tablet and pushes it out of your view. 

“I know, sugar,” he says in that damn Southern accent that manages to make your ears burn. “Just thought I’d come down here to see my favorite intelligence supervisor.” You roll your eyes, but can’t help the smile that threatens to split your face. You turn your tablet off and put it down.

“Do you know many intelligence supervisors?” you ask, but your efforts to get him to leave are already an afterthought at the back of your mind. Every time you hold a conversation with him, the amalgamation of your New York and Southern accent sounds crass compared to the honeyed drawl of Whiskey. Two completely different regions. You suppose he might feel the same whenever he’s in New York. Perhaps you two had more in common than you had initially thought. 

You’re off track. It’s maddening how easily he is able to pull a smile or a laugh from you and completely derail you. Even on the worst of your days, he’s able to ease you with just a reassuring smile or touch. Whiskey shrugs and shifts where he sits. 

“You got me there,” he laughs. “But that don’t mean I can’t come see you, does it?” You rest your chin on your hand as you fiddle with your tablet pen. He’s trimmed his mustache, you note.

“I suppose it doesn’t, Agent Whiskey,” you say. Anytime he flies over to the Statesman HQ, you usually see him the same day he lands, if not, you’re the first thing he goes to see. It’s sweet. 

“What does it take for me to convince you to call me Jack, sweetheart?” Whiskey asks, nearly whines, really. He’s been insisting you call him by his real name in private recently, insisting that you were far past those formalities. 

“When you stop calling me those pet names of yours,” you retort back. He looks mock-offended. 

“That’s never gonna happen,” Whiskey says. You raise an eyebrow. 

“Then there you have your answer,” you say simply, and go to pick up your tablet again when it chimes, but Whiskey stops you and pushes it back down flat against the desk. 

“You work too much,” he says, as if that was a decent enough reason to interrupt your work. “Pay some attention to me instead.”

“And I’m starting to think you don’t work enough,” you sigh, and slide the tablet out from under his hand and you turn it back on and check over the editing software. “God knows you spend enough time pestering me.” You don’t tell him that you don’t mind. In the hectic pace in your lives, Whiskey is a nice constant that you find yourself falling back on. 

The software has managed to fix most of the typos and obvious grammar issues, but it’s mangled the nuances of Tequila’s informal writing. You sigh again and swipe the report onto your computer screen to manually edit it before you can send it to Champagne. Whiskey hops off of your desk, and he walks around it to lean over your shoulder to skim the report as well. 

He’s close enough for you to smell his cologne. Smoky, mellow, and warm. 

“Why don’t you just send that off to Ginger to edit? Or Soda?” he asks, voice rumbling in your ear. “‘m sure you have other things to do other than grade Tequila’s piss poor work.” You clear your throat and try your best not to become too distracted. 

“They don’t have high enough clearance to read this report,” you answer. “Nor do I think they have the patience to. Besides, Ginger is tech and Soda is medical. They’d either shoot themselves or shoot me.” Whiskey laughs and leans in a little closer. 

“But I have the clearance to read this as you edit?” he asks, voice low. “You flatter me, Brandy.” You blink, then gasp, whirling around in your chair and narrowly missing clipping his chin with the back of your chair as you push him away from you and back around your desk, smacking him as you do.

“You are a menace!” you exclaim. Whiskey just laughs, humoring you and letting you push him when it would be frightfully easy to just stand there. He blocks your hits and eventually grabs a hold of your wrists to stop you. 

“You love it,” he says, and your face flushes as you try to scowl at him. 

“Get out of my office so I can finish this report,” you order, pointing at the door. Whiskey pouts, but makes his way to the door. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he sighs. He tips his hat at you. “You be a good girl while I’m gone, sweet thing,” he says in a sing-song voice, and the door clicks shut behind him before you can do some serious bodily harm to his person. 

---

You don’t really know what constitutes being “a good girl”, and you don’t really have the chance to find out because you meet with Whiskey again a few hours after he had barged into your office when Champagne calls you up to discuss some technicalities that he had remained vague on.

It’s a short underground tube ride to the Statesman office building a few miles outside the distillery, and an even shorter elevator up to the top floor. Whiskey is already there when you walk in, so you go ahead and take a seat across from him, pulling up your notes in case anything important pops up. You give him a small wave, and he tips his hat at you with a smile. You turn to the man sitting at the head of the table.

“Well, Champ,” Whiskey says, “why’d you call us here?” Champagne fiddles with the lid of a decanter of whiskey before he smacks his lips together and leans back in his chair. 

“Statesman is considering adding another location in California, and I need your expertise,” he announces. He motions to you. “Sent the plans to your tablet, Brandy, but here’s the gist.” The t.v. screen at the other end of the table switches from Statesman stocks to a blueprint of a high rise located in San Francisco, alongside some smaller buildings scattered over the city. “I’m planning on sending Chardonnay over to oversee construction, but this is only the third location to be located in such a large city.” You skim over the notes. Although they wouldn’t be building a distillery, there would be a sub-HQ over there, as well as some Statesman-sponsored bars to keep up surveillance. “The first one being New York, and the other in Nevada.”

“Is there something we should keep an eye on?” you ask, scrolling through various material requests. While the other could handle the usual materials, you would have to put in a special order for the military grade stuff. “What’s the occasion?” Champagne shrugs when you glance over your tablet. 

“It’s been something I’ve been thinking about,” he says. “Stocks are doing good, and there's no looming threat- seems like a good time as any.” You nod. 

“Then why us?” Whiskey asks. “I think Brandy is more than capable of handling this herself.” Champagne furrows his brows. 

“You are in charge of our New York office, aren’t you?” 

“Brandy grew up preparing to take over for it,” Whiskey says. 

“Well--”

“He’s right, sir,” you pipe in. “Whiskey’s about to go in for a mission anyways. There’s no point loading his already full plate. I can handle it.” Champagne presses his mouth in a hard line, but eventually taps the table. 

“Alright then. Brandy, I’ll let Chardonnay know you’ll be taking part in it so he can refer to you with questions. Agents, you’re dismissed.”

Whiskey moves for the door, but pauses when you don’t follow him. You wave him off. “I’ll catch up with you; just need to talk to Champagne about something.” He nods, and leaves. You back around to face Champagne with narrowed eyes. “What are you up to, old man?” He tilts his head and pours some whiskey into his glass. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Bringing Whiskey into this,” you clarify. “You know I can handle this project by myself; why try to rope him in?”

“Thought it be a good experience,” Champagne says, taking a sip and swishing it around his mouth before he turns to spit it out into the spitoon. You wrinkle your nose. 

“For Whiskey?”

“For the both of you,” he corrects. “Whiskey gets to learn more about the technical aspects, you get to, well, spend time with him.” You raise an eyebrow.

“And I want to spend time with him because…?” 

“Don’t you know?” Champagne asks. You shake your head. 

“What? We’re good friends, but we’ve got different jobs,” you say. “So I don’t see a reason why I should be spending time with him outside of what’s necessary.” Champagne just hums with a pensive look on his face. 

“Alright then, girl.” He waves a hand at you. “Off to work.” And Champagne doesn’t elaborate any further. 

---

You are far too busy trying to sort out the semantics of some sort of stirrings of a coup on a Chilean website to go and debrief Whiskey when Tuesday rolls around, so you send Ginger in your stead. She accepts without complaint, but you can see how she frowns when you tell her so. You’ve never gotten the details as to why the two never seem to get along, but Ginger is the most capable person you can think of to take care of things when you’re not able to. 

It takes you a solid 45 minutes to try and go through the Chilean Spanish compared to the Castilian variant you know, but you determine that the rumors of a coup bears no real weight and all it is are empty threats despite the traction it’s gained so far. You suppose you could’ve run the translation, but there were too many nuances and codes that couldn’t be translated over. Just to be sure, you set up a surveillance bot to continue to track the progress and alert you if anything significant happens. By the time you do, Ginger walks in, looking a little frazzled. You frown. “You good, Liz?” Ginger just puts down the debrief folder on your desk as she plops down in the chair across from you. You raise an eyebrow, but slide the folder over and survey the notes she’s taken during the debrief. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just Whiskey complaining that he has to fly to Spain to deal with some black market firearms dealers that have gotten too confident. Apparently last time he was there, some sailors tried to swindle him. There’s some quotes of his with choice words in the margins saying so, accompanied by a doodle of him with an angry expression. “Whiskey give you a hard time?” you guess. She nods and takes off her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. 

“I honestly don’t understand how you can stand him sometimes,” she says. You shrug. 

“He treats me fine, if not a little persistent,” you note mildly. Ginger snorts and puts her glasses back on. “Hasn’t given me a reason to dislike him. Yet.”

“That’s ‘cause he likes you,” she says. Your stomach flutters at her comment. Then after a moment of pondering, Ginger says, “Think he was in a bad mood because you weren’t the one debriefing him.” You frown. 

“Would it have mattered if I did?” you ask. “You’re perfectly capable.” 

“It’s not capability,” Ginger sighs, leaning forward and resting her forearms on your desk. The motion jostles the cup of pens on your desk and you reach to adjust it back to its place. You click a few things on your computer to pull up the flight details for Whiskey. Scheduled for 5:50pm, an overnight flight that lands in a remote location in Madrid where then he would be promptly escorted to Andalucia. 

You wonder if he’ll come visit you before he leaves. 

You shake the thought out of your head before you go back to look at Ginger, who’s looking at you curiously. “If not capability, then what?” you ask, fighting to keep down the blush that’s threatening to overtake your face.

“You really don’t know?” she asks, almost critically. You furrow your brows. There’s that question again. 

“Is there something I should know?”

Before Ginger can answer, a knock resounds at your door. You give Ginger an apologetic look before you call out, “Come in!” You don’t know why you’re surprised, but it’s Whiskey, again, with a bright smile on his face before his eyes darken at the sight of Ginger. She bristles.

“I’ll see you later,” she says, reaching over and giving your hand a small pat before she gets up to brush past Whiskey, and she closes the door behind you. Whiskey seems to relax at that, and takes the seat she was in. 

“If you’re here to complain about going to Spain, Agent Whiskey, I can’t do anything about it,” you immediately say before he can get a word in. He takes off his hat and puts it on your desk, running a hand through his hair. 

“I wasn’t here to complain,” Whiskey says, chuckling. “You wound me, Brandy.” He puts a hand over his heart and stares at you with a woefully sad face, looking at you with big, warm brown eyes, akin to a kicked puppy. “Missed my favorite intelligence supervisor at the debriefing.” You throw a pen at him, but he just catches it and puts it in with the rest without breaking eye contact. 

“Doubt you’re here just to see me,” you say. “Shouldn’t you be packing for your flight?”

“I’ve got time,” Whiskey says. “If I remember correctly, it’s not until 6:00. Gives me a little under 2 hours until I gotta leave.”

“5:50,” you correct him automatically. “So less than that. You’ll wanna leave in an hour or so to account for traffic.” The grin that spreads across his face makes your heart beat a little faster. 

“You keepin’ track of when I’m ‘bout to leave?” he purrs, leaning forward. You scoff, but think in the back of your mind that there’s some truth to that. 

“I’m the one that booked your flight with Triple Sec,” you say dryly. “Be weird if I didn’t know what time exactly, Agent Whiskey.” Whiskey hums, but leans back in his chair and spreads his legs in an almost obscene matter that leaves you thrumming in your skin. 

“Jack,” he says.

“Hm?”

“My name is Jack.” You laugh. 

“I know what your name is, Agent,” you say. “It’s kinda my job to know everybody. Feel like we’ve already talked about this about a million times by now.” 

“Still, it’d be nice to hear you say it,” he says, almost absentmindedly as he picks at his nails, brows furrowed in a vulnerable expression. Your face falls at his soft tone. To be honest, your refusal to say his name was more because you perceived it as a game. Whiskey would press you to actually call him by his name, and you would coyly refuse, and he would leave with a promise that he would get you to say it one way or another. But something is clearly bugging him. 

You reach a hand forward, towards him, touching the other edge of your desk. Close enough for him to reach for it. His gaze snaps to your hand, and something tells you that Whiskey wants to. There is some kind of longing in his eyes that the firm, hard line of his mouth is trying its hardest not to betray. “You okay?” Whiskey’s fingers twitch. Something holds him back. 

He clears his voice, forcing a smile on his face, and the moment is broken. “Right as rain, sugar,” he says. “Pre-mission jitters, I suppose.” You suppose that’s not totally unwarranted. Whiskey would be going on into the field on his own due to the delicacy of the mission, the only backup available being Triple Sec piloting the plane. And, well, Whiskey didn’t exactly blend in with the typical Madrid population with his loud voice and louder personality. Statesman didn’t have a base out in Europe either. You give him a reassuring smile, and you try not to think too hard at how the tension seems to melt out of him at that. 

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” you soothe. You retract your hand, and honestly at this point it seems as though Agent Whiskey has taken up permanent residence in your mind because you swear you spot some sort of deep emotion as his eyes trail after it. “Just like you always do, Whiskey.” The muscles in Whiskey’s jaw work as he clenches his teeth together before he claps his hands and stands up, that same charming smile on his face but not quite reaching his eyes. 

“Well I suppose that is some improvement!” he says. You tilt your head. 

“What do you mean?” Whiskey pulls the flask off his belt and takes a swig. 

“Got you to say my codename without all the preamble, now, didn’t I?” he says, winking at you. You stammer and flush red with embarrassment. He holds up his hands in surrender. “Now before you start wailing on me like last time,” he says, “I’ll see myself out. Like you said, I still need to pack. I’ll see if I can bring back a souvenir for you while I’m across the pond.” You cross your arms. 

“That won’t be necessary.” Whiskey shrugs and heads for the door. 

“Can’t stop me, can you?” You smile at him. 

“Guess not,” you say, almost to yourself, then your gaze falls to his hat still sitting on your desk. “Wait, Whiskey, your--” He holds up a hand. 

“Hold on to it while I’m gone, ‘kay?” he asks. You nod. “Good girl. Give me something to look forward to when I come back.” You make a motion to grab a pen, bursting out laughing when he moves to catch it when you feign a throw. He smiles, too, more genuinely this time. “See you in a couple days, darling.”

And you can’t help but start to miss him when the door clicks shut behind him. 

---

Forever Tag: @mabelleen​ @mando-vibes​ @isaissafail @adikaofmandalore

[keziha-writes]

Coffee College And Skeleton Roomies 4/31

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Chapter 1

Chapter-list

Chapter 4: The Roomies

Your first day of classes is over but that didn't mean your day was over in fact the most daunting part of the day was right in front of you, as you stand in front of the dorm building you'll be calling home for the next few years, mustering up the courage to walk in and meet your new dorm mates.

You take a deep breath before stepping through the door, dragging your suitcase along with you. 

This dorm just so happened to be the cheapest one available mostly for the simple reason that it didn't include any furniture in the rooms, other than a little built in wardrobe, so your little old bed and bean bag you'd brought with you were waiting in your car with a box of your things, which of course you'd take up with you once you knew exactly which room was yours. 

You pass a group of friends hanging around the entrance, pick up your keys at the desk and head into the elevator. 

Floor four dorm one… that was where you were gonna be living.

You step out of the elevator on floor four. The floor was split into two sections, one door each side of you… the door you needed was on the right so you step up to it… if you were remembering the layout plan right then behind this door was the living room shared between you and your eight dorm mates… although you have a key you should probably knock this time right?

So you give the door a little knock…

You hold your breath as you wait a moment, before the door opens. Behind the door… is yet another skeleton, how? You wonder, is there just that many of them here or what? This one looked a bit like Blue, a little taller maybe and not quite as excited looking, in fact he looks tired, maybe they were related just like how Rus and Stretch are kinda cousins. 

“Hey...” He says, his voice is deeper than Blue’s. “You the new girl?”

“Um, yeah, that’s me...” you reply sheepishly, “uh… is this my new dorm?”

“Yeah come on in, the names Sans, Sans the skeleton.”

“Hey vanilia who's there!?” You hear a gruff even deeper voice yell.

“Just the new roomie.” Sans replies back.

You step in and Sans leads you around the corner into the living area, oh and kitchen this was more open plan then you thought. There was a corner sofa with its back facing the door with more skeletons sat on it...

“Ya didn't tell us we got a new roomie! What's with that! What's he-” The one yelling turns around looking over the back of the sofa, “Oh...” he lets out a little chuckle. “Hey there Sweetheart.”

He gives you a little wave as his bright Red eyelights look you up and down... you notice he’s round like Sans and Blue but has pointed teeth like Rus and a gold tooth and a crack in his socket too, just his is more jagged.

“The name’s Red, nice to meet ya doll.” 

The other skulls look up from laptops, books and phones to see you, out of the four you see three familiar faces who simultaneously chime out your name in a confused and surprised tone. What were they doing here? Were they gonna be your new dorm mates?

The taller one you didn't recognise came over quickly and shook your hand.

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!! NICE TO MEET YOU! I’M SURE WE WILL ALL BE GREAT FRIENDS, NYEH HEH HEH HEH.”

“I hope so.” You chime back, Papyrus is very friendly and chipper.

 “WHAT’S ALL THE RUCKUS ABOUT!!?” 

You jump as a tall skeleton, taller than the rest barges in from the door you think goes to some of the bedrooms. He looks sharp and mean, dressed in red and black.

“MY QUESTION EXACTLY! WHY ARE YOU ALL SO LOUD!!?” A smaller but just as pointy and mean looking skeleton, in purple pushes past the other.

“I’M TRYING TO WORK!!” They both yell at the same time before they turn to scowl at each other. 

“Meet our new roomie.” Sans says as he pushes you towards them a little.

 “Um.. hi I’m-”

“WHAT!? A NEW PERSON STAYING HERE? WHY WASN'T I INCLUDED IN THIS DECISION!?” The smaller one asks in a raised voice.

“I WON'T ALLOW IT!!!” The taller exclaimes.

“Guess I forgot.” Sans shrugs.

“I DON’T LIKE THIS!!”

“No point protestin’ boss what's done ‘s done.” Red chips in sending you a wink.

“I DON’T LIKE THIS EITHER!” the smaller one folds his arms under his purple bandana.

You look between them in confusion and concern as they all argue about the fact Sans didn’t even tell anyone else you were coming… you didn’t like this, you don’t want people arguing and fighting because of you, not again…

“Just introduce yourselves.”

“YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”

“What you scared of a kid?”

“YOU’D BE SURPRISED WHAT A HUMAN CHILD CAN DO!” 

“Heh you're scared of them.”

“I AM NOT!!!”

Just as you think you can’t take much more shouting, Rus is at your side, he puts his hand on your shoulder, when did he even get there?

“Hey…!” he said barely above the others but they all go quiet mostly out of shock by the looks on their skulls.

“So....” Rus laughs slightly nervously. “You all gotta know she’s cool, ain't a threat and is nice.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?” The one in purple asks.

“She’s a classmate.”

“SHE BETTER JUST BE A CLASSMATE.”

“She is, I met her today jus like you.”

“THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE’S SO GREAT?”

“Cuz i gave her a chance, could you all just do the same?”

“FINE, BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW HUMAN, ONE WRONG STEP, IF I FEEL LIKE YOU’RE A THREAT TO ME OR MY BROTHER.” He moves his finger across his neck, and you get the point. 

You swallow the lump in your throat and nod. 

“GOOD! WELL THEN LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF I AM THE MALEVOLENT BLACK. DON’T FORGET IT!! MWAH HAHA! NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME I HAVE LOTS OF WORK TO DO!!” At that he turns away and leaves...

“Come on boss your turn don't let Black show you up.” Red adds.

“FINE!” He huffs. “HUMAN! IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME ALREADY THEN YOU’VE PROBABLY BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK. BUT SINCE THAT IS A SAD WAY TO LIVE I’LL SHOW YOU PITY, FOR I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE! FEARED AND ADMIRED BY ALL. NYAH HAHAHA!!”

This is where you're supposed to introduce yourself right? 

“Oh um… it’s nice to meet you? My name is-”

“I REALLY DON’T CARE AND I ALSO HAVE MUCH WORK TO DO, YOU’VE TAKEN FAR TOO MUCH OF MY PRECIOUS TIME.” He turns away flicking his cape like scarf behind him as he leaves…

The room goes quiet for a second. 

“Before you ask… yeah it’s usually like this…” Sans sighs…

“But ya get used to it.” Red adds.

Blue bounds over. “WELL THEN HOW ABOUT WE GET YOU SETTLED IN?”

“Your room is this one.” Sans turns you around and points you in the direction of Your room… “You got your key right?”

“Yeah here.” 

You open the door to an empty room, it's a cozy size, the far wall has a good sized window and the wardrobe, the left of the door is your bathroom.

“IT'S A BIT DUSTY IN HERE ISN'T IT? FEAR NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HAVE IT SPARKLING FOR YOU IN NO TIME!” He goes and fetches a bunch of cleaning gear.

“YOU HAVE MORE THINGS RIGHT? WE WILL HELP YOU BRING THEM UP.” Blue chimes volunteering the rest of them.

“Are you sure? I don’t have much to bring up.” You really don't want to be a burden for these guys.

“IT NO PROBLEM IS IT?” Blue asks Stretch, giving him a nudge.

“Yeah, no problem, we can help.” Stretch shrugs.

“You guys are so sweet.”

“JUST LEAD THE WAY!”

So you head out, Blue drags the others out and you, Stretch, Rus, Sans and Red have an ever so slightly awkward trip down the elevator while Blue races down the stairs. He greets you when the elevator opens… did he just race down four flights of stairs? Faster than the elevator, without breaking a sweat?!?! Ok…

You lead them over to your car while you hold idle chatter. 

They don’t make any comment about the cheap little car you have but when you open the trunk…

“You weren't joking, you’ve not got much at all, have you?” Rus comments.

“IS THIS IT?” Blue queres.

“Yeah this is it...”

“Quit complainin’ will ya? Makes our job easier.” Red huffs as he… somehow makes the headboard of your bed glow blue? and float? He floats it out of the car.

“How?” you mumble...

“RED STOP SHOWING OFF.” Blue rolls his eyelights as he makes the rest of the bed frame float, yeets your bean bag chair at Stretch and picks up the rolled mattress in one hand.

“Yer the one whos showin’ off li’l Blue.”

“How are you guys doing that?” You ask.

“It’s magic, kid.” Sans tells you as he uses said magic to grab your box of things. 

You’ve never seen monster magic at work before, “It’s so cool.”

There is nothing left in the car for you to carry…

“Um.. guys can I carry anything?”

“WE HAVE THIS!”

“Maybe you could just open the doors for us hun?”

“I can do that.”

The boys take your things to your room, Blue gets Red and Sans to start building your bed as he helps Papyrus with cleaning. 

You feel a little out of place… and a little bad that they are doing so much for you who is practically a stranger. 

“Hey hun?” Stretch calls. “We're getting pizza, you want any?” 

“Oh… um” you think about it… do you have enough money for that? the scholarship you were oh so lucky to grab only just managed to cover most of this… and you’ve not got much to live on… you already treated yourself to lunch... you should probably save up, you could just eat that bread you brought.

“We’ll all pitch in and pay for yours.” Sans says from pretty much under your bed as he builds it. 

“No I wouldn't want you to do that for me.”

“It won’t be much if all of us split” Sans says.

“I can tell ya my bro won’t be too happy if he notices.” Red chuckles. “And I usually only pay for food if it's a date. But I’ll live.”

“Way to inspire confidence.” Stretch says.

“Are you guys sure?”

“We’ll take care of you darlin’, we wanna make you feel at home.”

“YES! I AGREE, LET US TREAT YOU.”

What’s with these guys? They are way too helpful and super nice, usually you’d find it a little suspicious but for some reason you feel a sort of connection to these skeletons even the scary, angry two. Seems like moving here was a good choice.

[morneboshoff]

When is it Time for a Website Refresh?

You’ve heard the old adage… You have 6 seconds to convince a website visitor that your website is the website they’ve been searching for – before they hit that back button.

So keeping your website up-to-date is no longer a matter of preference, it’s a matter of survival.

If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your website, it might be a good idea to consider updating the elements on your website like the content, the design, adding new content or completely overhauling your website as part of a major redesign.

Does your website need a refresh?

So What’s a Refresh?

A business changes as it grows. The same is true with your website. As you create your website, make sure it reflects the business it represents.

Your website’s design will become outdated over time, that’s just how it goes. What was popular 2 or 3 years ago, can feel painfully outdated now (remember keyword clouds?) So refreshing the design is necessary to remain competitive.

Does Your Website Need a Refresh?

If your website has been up for a while, it may be a challenge to know when it’s time to update it. But here are some signs it’s time.

The design of your site is not appealing anymore

Conversions are low

Nothing is interesting or exciting on your website

Ineffective communication with website visitors

Leads aren’t coming in like they did before

Bounce rates are high

Recognize any of these? If so it may be time to make some minor updates or revamp your entire website. It just depends on your situation.

Here are 7 ways you can refresh your website

1. The Basics

Let’s start with the basics. The look and feel of your website can be dramatically updated simply by choosing a more modern fonts set to revamp its overall look. Even small changes can significantly impact transforming an old site into something new and impressive. Google fonts is free, and offers many great options.

2. Consider a redesign – when you need more than the basics

Your website plays a big part in the identity of your business. The way your website looks will have a big impact on the way your visitors feel when they land on your website. What will their first impression be? Are they going to want to do business with you? You are not doing yourself any favors by still using outdated stock graphics and imagery.

Your brand’s identity is shaped by elements like layout, fonts, colors, etc. To keep your website looking crisp, determine which sections have aged gracefully and which areas need improvement.

Replace your outdated images & graphics with a mix professionally taken photos of your staff and business along with some carefully curated high end stock images.

Choose a simple, clean font will make your site look sleek and modern. For example, Google Fonts offers many free typefaces.

An updated color palette can also improve the experience of your visitors.

3. Improve Your Communication

We’ve talked about the 6 seconds you have to grab your visitors attention and keep them on your website so it’s not a surprise that there’s little time for you to get your message across.

Regardless of what you sell, the customer is primarily interested in how you will help them solve their problem. It’s always about them, whatever you say. So make sure visitors can find the content they are looking for without a lot of clicking around.

Speaking of communication it’s a good idea to sprinkle in a variety of compelling and relevant CTAs on your site. Believe it or not, your visitors aren’t mind readers so you need to tell them how they take the next step. CTAs provide various options for the visitor to take action, such as:

“Call Now”

“Book Your Appointment Today”

“Join Now by clicking here,”

“Get started Today”

“Connect with us Today”

“Get your free ______ today”

“Signup today and get ________ “

And don’t forget about social sharing buttons.

The most important thing is that your CTA’s should be well-designed and strategically placed in areas where clients can easily see them.

Pro tip: Make sure that your CTA’s contrast well with the rest of your design but don’t get blend into the rest of your content. CTA’s are most effective when they look like buttons.

4. Improve Your User Experience

You must design your website so that the customer can navigate through it quickly. Your site will attract more visitors if it is easy to navigate. Just a few changes to your menu and checking that every link works can make a massive difference in the over all user experience.

Your navigation consists of links connecting your website’s pages. Carefully examine all your website pages and make sure they are still relevant and organized.

Test your links. Make sure that they don’t lead to 404 Error (Page Not Found). This makes your website appear not maintained and sloppy. Take a look at all the links on your site, including internal and external, and ensure they’re taking your visitors where you want them to go.

5. Analyze Your Website Content – And See Where You Stand

It’s not only about looks when it comes to refreshing a website. Your site must be considered current. Ensuring that what you are saying is valid, helpful, and readable to your visitors. So how can you determine whether your content is new, high-quality, and up-to-date?

By conducting a content audit.

A content audit is intended to assess which links get indexed by search engines, which need to be refreshed and no longer exist. Here are some basic steps you need to follow:

Compile all your databases and sitemaps. The sitemap is a document that lists your site’s pages, videos, and other files along with their relationships. Data from your website is organized into your website’s internal database.

Your site’s URLs are indexed by web crawlers who collect content throughout the Internet. An algorithm can be applied to web crawler data to find relevant links in response to specific search terms and keywords. We recommend using Google Analytic, Google Webmaster Tools, and Screaming Frog for crawling website content.

Content auditing can go beyond essentials: You can use titles, descriptions, and word count as primary criteria for content auditing. All of your content entries should contain these elements.

Check organic search, conversions, publish date, time-on-site, page views, load speed, and mobile-responsiveness, too.

The number of conversions divided by unique visits is the conversion rate. By measuring this metric, you can determine if your website traffic is profitable.

Time-on-site is pretty self-explanatory: it’s the amount of time your visitors spend on each of your pages. Content audits can benefit from this metric since you get a clear idea of the performance of your online content.

A page-per-visit measurement indicates how much content is viewed per visit. In most cases, it is presented as an average, which is calculated by dividing the total number of visitors by the total number of page views.

The slower your page loads, the fewer pages search engines can crawl, affecting your search engine rankings.

Take a good thorough look at your content: Identity what content no longer reflects your current business and goals and delete it. Do you need to rewrite or update anything? Is there anything that needs some attention?

Note: It is essential to perform two separate content audits if your website has Desktop and Mobile versions as their codebases are different.

6. Competitor Analysis

You should also examine how your competitors’ sites can be improved while evaluating the same areas where yours could be better. Are they doing anything new on their website that is working? Is their website more responsive than yours? Have they made updates to their website recently?

Aside from seeing what your competitors’ websites look like, it would help if you also figured out which websites link to them. Is it possible to obtain links from these same websites, or can you get links from other high-ranking websites? This is authority backlinking 101 & makes a huge impact on your rankings.

7. Make Sure Applications Are Maintained

Now that you have updated your contact information, added some fresh content, and checked for broken links, make sure that all of your web apps are functioning properly. For your tech to keep pace with your business growth, it must adapt and grow along with it.

App management practices include testing and debugging software, enhancing technology and site functionality, updating and maintaining existing security protocols, maintaining new browser versions, creating and maintaining 3rd party integrations, and more. It is very important to maintain your website’s modules, code, plugins and integrations to avoid various issues.

Honorary Mention: A Mobile-Responsive Website

This one is obvious and goes without saying. But nobody is surprised when I say smartphones are the most popular way people access the web. And a lot of them never use anything other than their phone so to say mobile responsiveness is important would be an understatement.

Plus Google favors mobile web-optimized websites in its search rankings and penalizes those that aren’t.

In conclusion, keep it simple. Think marathon, not a race.

A website refresh can be as extensive as you want to make it… Just like any renovation. Although we’ve covered many small changes you can make to your website some will make a much bigger impact than others. But do not under-estimate the end result.

So what now? evaluate your needs and make a plan of attack – and then get started on it. There’s no time like right now.

DOWNLOAD YOUR DIGITAL STRATEGY PLANNING TEMPLATE

[nerdpiggy]

Tell us about your ocs!! I'm genuinely curios bc of the tags

[ID: Meme of Hatsune Miku smiling. Top text reads "Thanks for sending me a message". Bottom text reads "You're very cute and I will be replying to you".]

Robin "Robbie" Fuller: The character i play in a DND campaign.

they/them pronouns. they're nonbinary and asexual and don't care to label their romantic attraction.

They're 22 years old and 5'9" (175cm)

Their birthday is November 12th. they're a scorpio

They started off as a Mundane MOTW character and they're now a level 7 warlock in DND. They're a human

They live in a small coastal town in massachusetts called Holyoak and they go to the local college to learn culinary. They live in a single dorm and they have a cute widdle black cat named Chickadee

One day (for various reasons) their life was flip-turned upside down with discovering the existence of monsters, portals, different dimensions, and rifts in spacetime

One of the reasons for them discovering all of this was them meeting a man named Thomas who's a human from a different dimension called the Palisades. He's a well-known Judge over there. (Thomas is @bevtastic 's character)

Robbie gets an offer to join the Interdimensional Defence Agency (IDA), says fuck it and accepts, and Robbie and Thomas stay friends by virtue of their similar jobs.

Robbie is tasked to go to a different dimension (A half-medieval half-wild west desert town called Argyle) to stop a threat that was growing there. Threat turned out to be a massive mind-controlling dragon who wanted revenge for the rest of her dragon species that were killed off by medieval "heroes". Robbie was not cut out for this as their first job. They (with help) subdue the dragon eventually but not before she burned down multiple towns including Argyle to a crisp. Robbie feels very bad about this.

Robbie, Thomas, and the rest of the party receive a mysterious letter leading them to an old abandoned mansion in Holyoak and get roped into a rescue mission to save Thomas's old friend Percy who has apparently been bodysnatched by a bad guy and trapped somewhere for what felt like thousands of years. This is the arc where we switched from Monster of the Week to DND, and Robbie gets connected to a nature deity Adelaide through a purple necklace. They also get a familiar, who is an owl with pitch-black feathers and glowing yellow pupilless eyes that Robbie named Mr. Muffins.

Robbie and Thomas become very good friends :)

Thomas dies.

Robbie goes to the Palisades to find out what happened to him. Turns out he wanted to reveal the secret of interdimensional travel to the public and work to make it open, free, and safe. The people in charge did not allow him to do this by legal means so he aimed to do it illegally, which was when he was murdered by a group of bandits.

On top of that, one of the main reasons why he wanted to reveal the different dimensions is because there is a HUGE interdimensional threat coming our way, and we need to act on it if we want to live.

Percy finds Robbie and asks them to help with this threat, who apparently is a singular person named Siris that has been locked in a prison for thousands of years and somehow got out. Robbie doesn't have much of a choice and accepts.

In the Palisades, there are monsters called Behemoths. they emerge from people who get bitten by a behemoth or who touch the black tar-like substance that runs like rivers in certain areas of the Palisades. During a battle, Robbie gets bitten by a Behemoth, and now they're a candidate for Behemism (aka turning into big giant monster syndrome).

Because Robbie has Behemism and Siris is part of the reason for Behemism existing, they're mind roommates now. Robbie and Siris do not get along very well.

There's more to Robbie but this is their main backstory!!!

[ID: a drawing of Robbie holding a chrysanthemum. They have short pink curly hair, and they're wearing a yellow floral button-up and a purple necklace. They have bandages on their freckled face and they're looking down at the chrysanthemum with a neutral expression.]

Emile Azarel: A character i play in a different campaign that does MOTW.

He/him pronouns, he's trans, demisexual, and demiromantic.

He's 19 and he's 5'3

He doesn't know his actual birthday but the day he celebrates is January 23rd

His MOTW class is The Expert. He's a fire genasi

He was born in central Russia but he doesn't know his parents well because when he was ~8 months old there was a big monster attack that unfortunately killed his parents. A monster hunter named Avery Azarel found Emile, took him in and raised him.

Emile learned to hunt monsters with Avery and the two traveled around together as monster hunters.

Eventually Emile wished to have a solid place to live rather than constantly traveling, because he wanted friends. He found a town in the pacific northwest called Salmon Peak that had everything he wanted: Russian culture, a fairly small easy-to-get-around layout, and some very weird mysteries going on. (Just because Emile wanted to settle didnt mean he wanted to stop monster hunting!)

He moved to Salmon Peak and has met a bunch of new friends! He's also learning more and more about the town, which is turning out to be somehow even weirder than he expected.

Emile is a very sweet, polite boy, but considering the fact that he's only ever been around one person mainly for his entire life, he has a bit of a ways to go when it comes to interacting with people. The monster hunting life means that when there's a monster, you kill it and that usually solves all your problems. Emile has transferred this logic to people as well (if they're a monster, kill em!) and he's learning through friend influence that maybe human lives are a bit more sacred than that.

His favorite color is blue because he loves the sky!

A lot of people underestimate his skills because he's little and looks very young, but he is a very good monster hunter. Because of Avery (the best monster hunter in the biz), his last name has a bit of a reputation.

Emile is blind, autistic, and has vitiligo!

I have much more planned for Emile but I can't say it here because it is MAJOR spoilers!

[ID: a drawing of Emile walking forward. He is wearing a blue shirt with stars on it, blue jeans, a fluffy white jacket, a belt with a star on it, star earrings, a moon necklace, and black shoes. His blue hair is swaying behind him and he's holding a white cane with a red tip. He's smiling slightly.]

Avery Azarel: Emile's parent! I've not played them as a character yet but I've made a character sheet for them.

they/them pronouns. They're agender, aromantic, and pansexual

their age is (???) and their height is 5'7

they have a birthday but nobody knows when it is

Their MOTW class is The Chosen. they appear human

They're widely considered the best monster hunter in the biz. Their name is well-known and they're requested for help all around the world

Because of this, they're constantly traveling and having a house would not make sense. They just pack their things, stay at motels/hotels/etc., camp in the woods and move around to wherever people need them.

Since they've been pretty much everywhere, they always seem to know at least one person from each town. They never seem to get too close to anyone, though

They are fluent in many different languages!

In the past they were paired up with another monster hunter and they made a great duo. That was a couple decades ago; they go solo now.

Years ago, an unexpected and incredibly destructive monster rampaged a small town in Central Russia. Avery came as fast as they could (they were nearby in the area) but they still couldn't finish off the beast before it tore the whole town to shreds. Dozens of homes were crushed, but surprisingly most people survived, with the exception of a couple of people who died under the rubble. Avery felt awful (this was their biggest failure in a while), and as they were searching through the rubble for any more casualties they found little baby Emile, miraculously unscathed. They took him in and raised him from then on.

Nobody, not even Emile, knows very many details about Avery's childhood, their family, their age, or really any information about them. (Emile has been trying to figure out Avery's birthday for AGES so they can celebrate, but Avery has refused to budge)

Their main weapon is 2 pairs of bolas! those are those chains with 2 balls on either end, usually made to be thrown at people's legs to restrain and trip them. they use the bolas both as restraining tools and as their main weapon, because i think weapons where you spin them really fast in front of you are cool

There's a scar over their left eye; whenever someone asks how they got it they always spin a different elaborate tale of an epic monster battle. Nobody knows which (if any) is the true story

there is a WHOLE LOT that I am leaving out if you couldn't tell. There's a huge chunk of their past that I'm leaving out because it's all a big bundle of spoilers. Someday I will be able to elaborate more on Avery!

[ID: a picrew made by djarn of Avery. They're smiling, their head is tilted slightly, and there's a scar over their left eye. Their hair is tied half-up half-down. They're wearing a black shirt with "òwó" on it and a blue jacket with an aromantic flag pin and a pansexual flag pin. the background is an agender flag.]

These are my main OC's! I have more (Orion, Nottwyrm, "Noodlearms", etc.) but these 3 are the main ones that I post about. :3 thank u for asking!!!

If you have any questions about any of my characters I always welcome asks!!! 💖

[zhantesblog]

52)Presentation Slides

OPENING SLIDE

To begin our presentation, Charlotte is going to introduce our brand; create a warm welcome and set the pace of the presentation.

Charlotte – “Good Morning, we are group one, and throughout this presentation we will be introducing you to our new brand Gaia.”  

INTRODUCTION SLIDE

Charlotte will continued on to the next slide to communicate what our overall brand story is.

The brand story is something that we have been working on as a group pretty much since the beginning. I like our story as I think it clearly reflects our brands message and mission statement. I love the layout of this slide as its simplistic and elegant and I think it really reflects are target demographic. The slide is overused by text but goes into enough detail. The font choice is also good because it is clear, concise and eligible for the audience to read- its also a nice contrast from the Amalfi Coast font used for the brand name.

Charlotte

– “Our brand story is, here at Gaia, we want you to feel like the true Earth Goddess you are. With our size inclusive, stylish and elegant designs made both ethically and sustainably. We aim for our loungewear to leave you looking great and feeling empowered. We are diving deep into clean production that is not only beneficial to you but for the earth as well.”

VISION AND PURPOSE SLIDE

Heather will then pick up from where Charlotte left off and will go into detail about what our brands overall vision and purpose is and explains each point and what they mean for us as a brand. Again the information on this slide is kept to a minimum and focuses on the 3 main key components of our vision and purpose, which will allowHeather to go into more detail without overwhelming the audience.

Sustainability, responsibility and inclusivity have been the main focus of our brand since the very beginning, so I am glad that they are highlighted as our main focus points and support our brands message.

Heather

– “Sustainability-

All of our fabrics, yarns, trimmings and finishings are either organic and sustainably sourced or are made from 100% post consumer recycled material. This means we never deplete our planets natural resources faster than we can produce them.

Responsibility-  

Everybody who works at Gaia are insured a competitive wage and our places of work are regularly inspected to guarantee safe working conditions.

Inclusivity-  

We want all women to feel comfortable and confident when they shop with us. Our sizing ranges from a UK size 4-24 with hopes to increase this in the future.”

CUSTOMER PROFILE SLIDE

Following up from the vision and purpose slide, Narnia will begin to talk about our customer profile. 

I love the layout of this slide as I think the collage of images on the side really bring it together and communicates our customer/demographic of 25-40 year old, professional women. I think it adds a contemporary feel as Narnia pointed out that our customer is an ‘Art lover’. 

I think Narnia did really well at pinpointing exactly who our demographic is by exploring their hobbies, interests, psychological make up and consumer habits as this was something we were told is important to explore and communicate.

Narnia – “Although at GAIA we pride ourselves in our inclusivity we do find our main customer audience to be a woman between the ages of 25 to 40 years old who are at a middle-class economic level. Demographically, we at GAIA want our customers to be economically aware, professional women earning a sufficient wage of 30k a year and above, who while wanting comfort also seek fashionable and classy loungewear that can be dressed up and worn out as well as dressed down.  

The psychological makeup of our customer is an art lover who is fashion conscious, a discriminating buyer, university educated with occupational accomplishment and an economic activist.    

The habits of our customer include shopping, reading, walking, yoga, watching movies and spending time with family.  

In terms of their consumer habits, our customers enjoy shopping around once every month or two months at middle to high profile retail establishments, fashionable good quality products, consciously seeks out sustainable and economically friendly brands.”

BRAND IDENTITY SLIDE

Following on from the feedback we received in our previous group meeting, the brand identity slide and to be altered. The colour palette has since been replaced by what the logo would look like as a social media icon and a little bit of information on the font used for the logo is highlighted as well as the origins of the name to add some context. During the presentation Me and Narnia will discuss why we decided to call our brand Gaia and how the logo was formed and how it fits into our overall identity.

I think that this slide clearly explains our brand and logo and how the colour palette used for our logo reflects the elegant and refined look of not only the presentation but our demographic as well. We felt that it looked more professional along with the script font used for the logo.

Narnia - “For our brand we decided to call ourselves Gaia. Gaia was venerated as the goddess of earth or land in ancient Greece. We think the name clearly reflects our goals of being sustainable and inclusive- supporting women empowerment through the use of a goddess accompanied with our ‘all goddesses welcome’ tagline.”

Zhanté - “The logo is formed with Amalfi coasts cursive text that projects a feminine tone overall. Partnered with that is the alchemical symbol for the earth element, which further helps us to be identified as a sustainable brand. Both elements are identifiable to our brand and can be separated and used as standalone logos across our collection and promotional front.

We decided to keep the colour palette quite simple as the black and white creates a more refined, elegant and professional look as it reflects our target audience of professional women aged 25-40 and we also want our collection to speak for itself.”

TREND SLIDE

Charlotte and Molly worked on the trend slide together. We decided as a group to look into two S/S 22 WGSN trends and blend them together. Charlotte will discus the Home Comforts trend and created a moodpboard to showcase this and Molly looked into our colour palette which is inspired by WGSN’S Euphoric trend.

I love the overall look of this slide as the mood-board really adds a pop of colour and contrasts well with the black and white theme we’ve been consistent with. It just further highlights the bright and bold colour palette of our products.

Charlotte - “Our trend is a combination of the colour palette from the spring summer 22 euphoric and the concept of home comforts from spring summer 22 connected, both from WGSN.  

The concept of home comforts is based around comfy, loungewear home styles lasting long after lockdown. Loungewear isn’t just about comfort anymore it also needs to look into wellbeing with health being a consumer priority. Home comforts is relevant for loungewear and sets with cocooning adaptable silhouettes and adjustable features including elasticated closures and button-down finishes. The recommended materials for home comforts are organic fabrics including hemp, linen and cotton with hypoallergenic, rejuvenating and deodorising benefits. We have taken away aspects of home comforts for our brand including the loungewear home styles, organic materials and adaptable and adjustable silhouettes with elasticated features and tie-waist closures. With a future plan to look into smart fabrics.”

Molly- “The reason why we decided not to keep the home comforts colour palette is because we wanted something bolder and brighter. We went with the forecasted trend euphoric and the colour palette is inspired by the trend board colour me happy.   The colour palette consists of lavender Silk, Fresh Ginger, Nectar, Daylight Blue, Turquoise Tonic, Orchard Flower and Red Glow.”  

PRODUCT SLIDE

Both Lisa and Charlotte worked on this slide, discussing our collection and the type of products/ styles we’ll selling as well as the materials that will be used. Charlotte will begin explaining the garment shapes and design details of our first range and then Lisa will discuss the colours and fabrics.

Charlotte - “The first loungewear collection for Gaia consists of three outfits designed for release in the spring of 2022. We’d like to consider ourselves as an inclusive brand to all and offer all of our products in sizes XXS to 4XL.  

The first outfit in our range is a plunge V neck sleeveless full-length dress, with an elasticated ruffled waist. The dress is paired with a collarless full length quilted coat with wide sleeves, complete with a long sash belt. The second outfit consists of three items including elasticated paper bag style lounge pants, a sleeveless tank in the same style as the dress, these are paired with a quilted wide sleeved crop jacket with a tie waste. The third outfit is a pair of elasticated paper bag shorts with a cropped square neck t-shirt with ruffled sleeve detailing matching that of the bottoms and dress. All of the outerwear and bottoms from this collection have seam pockets and there is a paper bag style detail running across all three looks of the collection.”

Lisa - “Looking at the garments we create, we plan to use recycled polyester and organic cotton. Which would be coloured through a natural dye process and use of sublimation for the polyester fibres which wouldn’t be as harmful or wasteful. And with the jackets and coat we would use cotton batting.” 

PRICE SLIDE

After getting feedback from our initial slide, Natalie pointed out a pricing issue and miscalculations as it was initially too inexpensive. Heather worked really hard to correct this issue in such a short amount of time and has made sure to cover all the points including; labour costs, fabric costs and price comparisons with our competitors and taking into account the sustainability factors.

Heather

– “Our first clothing line is priced from £47 - £428. Being a sustainable and ethically inspired brand it is expected that our products may cost more than less ethical companies on the market. As an example we pay all of our employees an average wage of £12 an hour including everyone involved with the production of our garments. Compared to one of our main ethical competitors girlfriend collective, who pay the living wage for seamstresses in Vietnam, our employees earn over 10x the amount they do. We believe that this will not deter our customer base as they care far more about the impact they have than how much things cost. Our pricing is based on a direct to customer market. We hope to operate a circular economy in the future so at this time we are not taking on wholesale options to keep things simple.” 

PRICE SLIDE

Molly and Pranil worked together on this slide. I think they were really clear with their research. Molly focused mainly on the online stores and was able to bring reference to the pandemic and how this will affect consumer habits and what this would mean for us and our brand. Pranil then went onto talking about our idea of a pop-up store and went into detail on the costing of the pop-up shop location that we had decided on as a group. 

Molly- “Our clothing will be predominately sold online and you can purchase the items through our website or through our Instagram shop. We decided to open an Instagram shop as well as just our website because Instagram is a massive social media platform where we can gain a large following, we will also be able to reach a bigger target market of customers. One other reason why we wanted to promote and sell through Instagram is due to the current pandemic, as more and more people are now shopping online and turning to Instagram to pass the time so we hope our brand reaches a wider range of customers through our posts and advertisements. we also plan to set up a pop-up shop in the bull ring in Birmingham city Centre, where we will also sell our products.”

Pranil – “As for our pop-up store, we had scouted out a location that we had deemed perfect for our brand, and we had found an open and well-lit store for hire in the heart of the Birmingham, within the Bullring. This store is ideal for our brand as the Bullring is a highly populated area, and we feel customers going in and out the building will be inclined to help local businesses in the area, and our demographic will surely be around the building. The price for this renting out this store totals out to £132/day and we all agreed that having the store up for a month would be enough time for people to notice us, which come to final cost of £5,160, for 31 days.”

PROMOTION SLIDE

The promotion slide was my responsibility to create and I really wanted to ensure that I had tangible promotional ideas that were relevant to our brand; taking into consideration the sustainability factors and our target demographic of 25-40 year olds. I looked into every aspect; from giveaways, to collaborations, catwalks, possible magazine features and even created a mock up billboard to help promote our brand more publicly. I then went on to create a separate influencers slide as I thought that was an important way to help get our brand more publicity on the social media front.

Zhante

– “Looking at the ways in which we can get Gaia as brand out there and create a sense of validity around us, we will be using such means as reaching out to sustainable fashion bloggers like the sustainable edit and magazines such as KeiSei and more commercial magazines like vogue for featured interviews so our consumers can get to know Gaia as a brand better and to answer any unanswered questions as well as write and review our products spreading our message across a wider audience. We will also be looking at future collaborations with other sustainable brands which support our ideals, such as girlfriend collective as an example to help gain international recognition. We will also be hiring out billboard spots across the UK to visually promote our collection and to create further interest eventually moving this worldwide. In addition to this, we will also be working with the fashion of nature exhibition to display our collection within a live event as well as taking part in the first ever sustainable fashion week, sporting our collection on the runway later this year in autumn 2021. In the near future we will be looking into partnering with campaigns and charities surrounding the idea of sustainability and slow fashion and hopefully create our own campaigns and produce panel talks that support and help spread our message even further.”

INFLUENCERS SLIDE

Narnia will take over from me on this slide as it will give me time to prepare for the packaging slide. This slide showcases the influencers that we would like to promote our products. Each influencer has a good reputation and online following and are all focused on sustainable fashion. Its important to note that these influencers will more than likely be in our long term goals as we have to think about how much it would cost.

Narnia – “As Instagram is a big platform to promote brands and is the easiest way to garner attention, we will be reaching out to instagrammers, sending PR so they can review and promote our collection through Instagram stories and reels to their audience which will create more traffic to both our website and Instagram page. Through this we can then run giveaways and competitions.

And as Gaia gains more and more attention we will be looking into eventually expanding our group of influencers which can eventually lead us into celebrity brand endorsements and possible collaborations.”

PACKAGING SLIDE

The packaging was again, my responsibility with the help of Narnia. 

I tried to cover everything from bags, to box packaging, clothing tags, thank you notes with promotional codes that will be inside the packaging as well as gift cards. I had to do extensive research as I wanted to make sure that the packaging reflected our brands goals of sustainability. The only thing that I couldn't find details on, was the pricing of the packaging as a lot the sustainable packaging manufacturers haven't publicly stated their prices as its based on quotations.

Zhante – “We tried to be as thoughtful about the materials we use for our packaging as we are with our collection and are constantly looking for innovative ways to minimise the use of single-use packaging.

We recognise that single-use packaging exerts an impact on ecosystems at their extraction point, during production and in disposal.

Therefore, we have worked with companies like TIPA and Iggesund who are manufacturers known for their bio based, fully compostable, flexible and sustainable packaging solutions to create the perfect blend.

Our BPI certified packaging is 100% sustainable, 100% eco-friendly and is 100% good for the planet; made from a selection of paperboard box packaging which can either be recycled or composted. Our garments will be protected and wrapped in clear TIPA plastic made from vegetables, which is designed to breakdown into compost, replacing the overuse of industrial cast film packaging.

This is great as it allows us to be consistent with our sustainability without compromising on the aesthetics.  

Our thank you notes that will be inside every packaged delivery will be made from 100% recycled and plantable flower seed paper as well as our tags for both our bags and clothing.

The bags will then be a combination of sustainable paperboard and again coated with a plastic film wrap-created using things such as cellulose and compostable gloss.

And our Gift cards will be plastic free and made from a similar material called invercote paperboard.

We have consciously decided not to include any unnecessary extras within the packaging such as tissue paper as we believe this will just create more unnecessary waste and recycling in the long run. 

We recognise that this is a more costly approach than typical packaging and would likely have to bump up the delivery prices to help compensate for this, but we believe that the cost of this is cheaper than the cost of damaging the planet.”

THE FUTURE SLIDE

Our future slide focuses on the future goals of the brand. The slide has been split into short/mid-term solutions and what the brand hopes to be doing in the long term, which will be discussed in further detail by Lisa during the presentation.

We were initially planning on wholesaling our products, but because we wanted to be circular in the future we thought that that might be difficult to achieve and counterintuitive, is we decided ti scrap that idea completely.

Lisa – “After establishing our brand, in the short midterm we plan to open a physical store including the expansion of our range for a more inclusive collection through sizing which we plan to use CLO3D technology which would allow us to reduce the waste in pattern making and thus being more sustainable.

In the long-term we aim to use self-healing fabric as it would reduce the damage on the garment and less waste as well as encouraging customers to return the clothing that we would then recycle into new clothing so that this creates a more circular ecosystem.”

CLOSING SLIDE

For the closing slide we kept it simple and directed it at the audience so that they can ask us any questions. We, as a group tried to anticipate what questions might be asked at the end of our presentation. As pricing was something that was brought up in our feedback tutorial, I decided to look into the prices of such things as how much a billboard would cost, and how much influencers tend to charge- which was pretty elusive as it depends on the individual.

Overall, I am very pleased with our presentation. I think everyone did extensive amounts of research and worked really well on creating their individual slides.

[smith27130714]

Wordpress Hosting

Wordpress Hosting Who Should Host Your Web site?

actly how would you feel if you could locate an excellent web hosting solution that didn't break the bank, as well as offered you versatility? If you wish to have your very own online company, you are mosting likely to have to choose an excellent webhosting service to make your website available to your audience. This write-up will certainly assist you select a host which will provide you what you need and more.

art looking into different hosting companies at the initial indicator of problem with your very own; don't wait until an adjustment is absolutely necessary. If your first choice ends up being problematic, you'll have the ability to relocate swiftly without needing to start your search from square one.

u must Wordpress Hostingbe familiar with band-width, or the amount of information that is able to transfer in and out of your web hosting account. Different web hosting companies use various costs on various band-widths, so you require to make sure you utilize this to aid you make a decision regarding who you ought to pick for webhosting.

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u need to never pay ahead of time for holding services. Numerous firms will provide you a discount to enroll in a longer term. What happens if the holding firm goes bust? Even worse yet, what happens if you do not like something about the hosting company and wish to switch? It is better to pay as you go with web hosting.

ke certain that you consider the rate of a host when choosing one. If you have actually ever heard that something is simply also great to be true, then it most likely is. This most definitely puts on webhosting. You should not purchase a web-hosting strategy that is really low-cost. When a strategy is incredibly low in price, after that it likely won't provide premium organizing. For that reason, buy a service that provides a reasonable price for the quality that you anticipate.

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your site needs email capabilities, ask webhosting suppliers regarding the email layouts they permit. POP 3 is one of the most common one that would possibly satisfy your needs. These type of e-mail are generally connected to the domain name, and also you can access them from anywhere online.

en comparing web-hosting services, you must select the ones that motivates you one of the most self-confidence as well as stands apart from the competitors. Choose a strategy that consists of all the features you are intending on making use of and also enables your site to expand. The rate should also represent your spending plan.

en you are faced with the new to move your existing service to a new webhosting carrier, consider using a file transfer service to make the modification a lot easier. It can be extremely time-consuming to do it one data at once, as well as fraught with dangers of unintentionally shedding beneficial material. The software program you will certainly need is called FTP (data transfer procedure) customer software program. There are different carriers on the Internet and a lot of are fairly priced.

u ought to search for real testimonials of a host before subscribing. You will find this kind of reviews on discussion forums as well as by chatting with various other webmasters. Any kind of blog post or included testimonials may be composed by individuals helping the associate program of the host you read around.

you've discovered, there are a variety of variables as well as options that require to be assessed when choosing a host company. It takes research and time, but there are various excellent firms out there. Make your web site all it can be by utilizing the above recommendations to pick the best feasible web hosting plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNTWgsPfGyI https://www.reddit.com/r/bookmark/comments/n3zli9/wordpress_contact_form/

[fuson75291619]

Web Hosting Vps

Web Hosting Vps Who Should Host Your Website?

st how would certainly you really feel if you could find a great web hosting solution that really did not cost a fortune, and supplied you versatility? If you wish to have your very own online service, you are going to have to choose a great webhosting solution to make your site readily available to your audience. This post will certainly aid you select a host which will give you what you require as well as a lot more.

art researching different organizing firms at the initial indication of difficulty with your own; don't wait until a modification is definitely needed. If your front runner turns out to be problematic, you'll have the ability to relocate promptly without having to begin your search from square one.

u have to know with band-width, or the quantity of information that has the ability to move in and also out of your web hosting account. Different webhosting business supply various prices on various band-widths, so you require to make sure you use this to aid you make a decision regarding who you need to choose for host.

lect a holding solution that permits you to instantly and also conveniently view your internet stats. You will want to know points such as the amount of people are seeing your website as well as what web pages they are seeing. You can even discover how much time they stayed on your site, as well as what search words they used to find you. These can be important in the long run, so utilize a server who has these tools.

u must never pay in advance for holding solutions. Lots of business will offer you a discount to enroll in a longer term. What happens if the holding business goes bust? Worse yet, what happens if you do not like something about the hosting company and also desire to change? It is far better to pay as you choose web hosting.

ke sure that you consider the rate of a host when picking one. If you have actually ever before listened to that something is simply also excellent to be real, then it most likely is. This certainly relates to host. You shouldn't buy a web-hosting plan that is really affordable. When a plan is extremely reduced in cost, then it likely won't supply top notch hosting. Consequently, acquire a service that gives a reasonable cost for the top quality that you expect.

en establishing a brand-new host account, be sure that you establish just how much room you will require for correct functioning of your website. If you will be uploading and blogging daily, it is feasible that you could use up all the assigned area on the much more economical plans. Recognize that any type of plugins you use for blogging when occupy a great little bit of allotted area.

your internet site requires email capacities, ask web hosting carriers about the e-mail layouts they permit. POP 3 is the most usual one that would possibly satisfy your needs. These sort of e-mail are generally connected to the domain, and you can access them from everywhere online.

en comparing web-hosting solutions, you need to choose the ones that motivates you one of the most self-confidence as well as differs from the competitors. Pick a strategy that includes all the features you are planning on using as well as enables your site to expand. The cost needs to also correspond to your budget.

en you are faced with the brand-new to transfer your existing service to a new host company, consider making use of a data transfer service to make the modification much easier. It can be very time-consuming to do it one data at once, as well as stuffed with threats of accidentally losing valuable material. The software you will certainly require is called FTP (data transfer method) customer software program. There are numerous companies on the Internet and most are fairly valued.

u ought to seek real testimonials of a host prior to subscribing. You will locate this kind of testimonials on forums and also by chatting with various other webmasters. Any post or included testimonials may be created by people working for the associate program of the host you are reading around.

you've found out, there are a number of factors and alternatives that require to be assessed when choosing a host company. It takes research study and time, yet there are numerous good firms out there. Make your website all it can be by utilizing the above advice to select the best possible host strategy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNTWgsPfGyI https://lopez81520790.wordpress.com/2021/05/03/web-hosting-vs-website-builder/

[long19752687]

Need A Website Built For My Business

Need A Website Built For My Business That Should Host Your Site?

w would certainly you really feel if you could discover a great host service that really did not break the bank, and offered you adaptability? If you intend to have your own online service, you are going to have to choose a good webhosting service to make your site offered to your audience. This short article will certainly help you choose a web host which will offer you what you need as well as more.

art looking into different organizing firms at the first sign of problem with your own; do not wait till an adjustment is absolutely necessary. If your first choice becomes bothersome, you'll have the ability to relocate swiftly without having to start your search from the ground up.

u should know with band-width, or the quantity of information that has the ability to move in and out of your host account. Various webhosting firms offer different rates on various band-widths, so you require to see to it you use this to aid you make a decision as to who you should pick for web hosting.

ck a holding solution that enables you to immediately and also quickly see your web statistics. You will want to know points such as the amount of individuals are seeing your internet site as well as what web pages they are watching. You can even find out how much time they stayed on your site, as well as what search words they made use of to locate you. These can be important over time, so use a server who has these devices.

u should never ever pay ahead of time for organizing services. Lots of business will offer you a discount to register for a longer term. What happens if the hosting company goes bust? Even worse yet, what if you do not such as something concerning the organizing company and desire to switch over? It is better to pay as you go with host.

sure that you factor in the rate of a host when choosing one. If you have actually ever before listened to that something is simply too excellent to be true, then it most likely is. This absolutely relates to host. You shouldn't purchase a web-hosting plan that is truly affordable. When a strategy is very reduced in cost, then it likely won't supply top quality organizing. Therefore, buy a service that provides an affordable price for the quality that you expect.

en establishing a brand-new host account, be sure that you establish just how much room you will certainly need for proper performance of your website. If you will certainly be publishing and also blogging daily, it is possible that you can use up all the assigned space on the extra economical plans. Realize that any kind of plugins you utilize for blogging when use up a good little bit of designated space.

your web site requires e-mail abilities, ask host companies concerning the email layouts they allow. POP 3 is the most typical one that would probably satisfy your requirements. These type of e-mail are normally connected to the domain, and you can access them from anyplace online.

en contrasting web-hosting services, you must select the ones that motivates you one of the most confidence and also stands apart from the competition. Pick a plan that includes all the features you are planning on using as well as allows for your site to expand. The price needs to likewise represent your budget.

en you are confronted with the brand-new to move your existing service to a brand-new webhosting carrier, take into consideration utilizing a file transfer service to make the adjustment a lot easier. It can be very time-consuming to do it one data at once, as well as laden with threats of mistakenly losing important web content. The software application you will require is called FTP (file transfer protocol) client software program. There are different providers online and also most are reasonably priced.

u should look for authentic reviews of a host before subscribing. You will find this sort of reviews on online forums and by chatting with other webmasters. Any blog post or included reviews may be composed by individuals helping the associate program of the host you read around.

you have actually learned, there are a variety of variables and choices that need to be assessed when picking a webhosting company. It takes research study as well as time, but there are numerous great companies out there. Make your web site all it can be by utilizing the above recommendations to select the most effective feasible host plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNTWgsPfGyI https://pierce36383433.wordpress.com/2021/05/03/need-a-website-for-my-business/

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Website Traffic

Website Traffic That Should Host Your Website?

w would certainly you feel if you could discover a great web hosting solution that didn't break the bank, and also offered you versatility? If you wish to have your own online organization, you are going to have to pick a great host service to make your site offered to your audience. This short article will assist you select a web host which will offer you what you require and a lot more.

gin investigating different holding business at the very first sign of difficulty with your very own; don't wait up until a modification is definitely required. If your first choice turns out to be problematic, you'll have the ability to relocate rapidly without needing to begin your search from scratch.

u need to know with band-width, or the amount of information that has the ability to move in and out of your webhosting account. Different host business provide different costs on different band-widths, so you require to ensure you use this to help you make a decision as to who you ought to choose for webhosting.

lect a hosting solution that allows you to immediately as well as easily watch your web data. You will certainly would like to know points such as how many people are seeing your internet site as well as what pages they are seeing. You can also find out how long they remained on your website, and also what search words they utilized to find you. These can be vital in the long run, so use a web server that has these devices.

u should never pay in advance for organizing solutions. Numerous companies will use you a price cut to register for a longer term. What if the holding firm goes bust? Worse yet, what if you do not like something concerning the holding business and wish to switch? It is far better to pay as you opt for webhosting.

sure that you consider the cost of a host when choosing one. If you've ever before listened to that something is simply as well good to be real, then it likely is. This certainly relates to web hosting. You shouldn't buy a web-hosting plan that is truly economical. When a plan is very reduced in expense, then it likely won't provide high-grade hosting. As a result, acquire a service that supplies an affordable cost for the quality that you expect.

en setting up a brand-new webhosting account, make certain that you establish just how much room you will need for correct performance of your website. If you will be uploading as well as blogging daily, it is feasible that you could use up all the allotted area on the extra affordable plans. Understand that any kind of plugins you utilize for blogging when use up a good little bit of assigned area.

your site needs email abilities, ask webhosting companies regarding the e-mail layouts they allow. POP 3 is one of the most common one that would probably meet your requirements. These sort of email are typically connected to the domain, and you can access them from just about anywhere online.

en comparing web-hosting solutions, you need to choose the ones that influences you one of the most self-confidence as well as differs from the competitors. Pick a plan that includes all the attributes you are planning on making use of and also allows for your website to grow. The price must also represent your spending plan.

en you are confronted with the brand-new to move your existing service to a new host provider, take into consideration using a documents transfer solution to make the modification much easier. It can be very taxing to do it one documents at once, and stuffed with dangers of accidentally losing beneficial content. The software you will certainly need is called FTP (file transfer protocol) customer software. There are various service providers online and also many are fairly valued.

u ought to try to find authentic evaluations of a host before subscribing. You will certainly discover this type of reviews on online forums as well as by speaking with other webmasters. Any article or featured reviews might be written by people benefiting the affiliate program of the host you read around.

you have actually learned, there are a number of elements and also choices that need to be analyzed when selecting a webhosting company. It takes research study and also time, yet there are numerous great business available. Make your site all it can be by using the above guidance to select the very best possible host plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNTWgsPfGyI https://www.reddit.com/r/bookmark/comments/n3xp80/website_templates/